i 


UCSB 


BRITISH    CORN-LAWS 


BY  J.   C.   PLATT. 


FROM    THE    FIRST    LONDON    EDITION, 

WITH  ADDITIONS  BY  THE  AMERICAN  EDITOR. 


NEW  YORK  : 
HUNT'S   MERCHANTS'  MAGAZINE, 


142  FULTON-STREET. 


1845. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

Importance  of  the  subject — The  population  of  Great  Britain — Progress  of 
agricultural  industry  and  manufactures — Manufacturing  counties — Agri- 
cultural sections — Increase  of  immigration — Waste  lands  of  England — 
Divisions  of  the  subject — Periods  of  the  importation  and  exportation  of 
corn  in  England,  &c 127 


CHAPTER  II. 

FIRST   PERIOD. FROM    EARLY   TIMES   TO    1688. 

Early  municipal  regulations  and  enactments — Early  discouragements  to 
importations — Progress  of  agriculture  in  1436,  and  surplus  of  grain — Prices 
at  which  it  was  then  allowed  to  be  exported — Complaints  against  its  restric- 
tions— Subsequent  legal  enactments  for  the  protection  of  the  corn- 
grower — High  prices  of  wheat  in  England — Preamble  of  the  first  corn- 
law— Restrictive  statute  of  1463 — Subsequent  complaints  resulting  there- 
from— Allusions  to  this  in  Pastor's  letters — Motives  of  the  state  policy, 
ficc.— Subsequent  acts  of  1533,  and  regulation  of  prices — Opposition  to 
the  laws  on  this  point — Enactments  respecting  farms,  &c. — Singular  regu- 
lations respecting  the  supply  of  articles  of  food,  <fcc. — Difficulties  conse- 
quent on  these — The  system  partially  inoperative — Freedom  of  export 
allowed  in  1554— Extension  of  privileges — Averages  of  exportation  settled 
annually — Prices  at  which  importations  were  allowed — Effects  of  this 
regulation — After  enactments,  and  their  effects — The  law  of  1663,  and 
its  inlluence — Further  legislation  on  the  subject  in  1670 — New  limitation 
of  rates  of  exportation — Failure  of  its  object — Allusions  to  this  by  Roger 
Coke — Defective  harvests  of  1673,  74,  and  75 — Depressed  condition  of 
agriculturists— The  acts  of  1570  and  1OTO  compared.  .  .  130 


124  CONTEXTS. 

CHAPTER    III. 

SECOND    PERIOD. FROM    1689    TO    1773. 

High  prices  of  the  seven  years  ending  1679 — Their  effects,  &c. — Bounties 
on  exportation  of  corn  —Preamble  of  the  act  authorizing  this — Term  of 
its  suspension — New  act  of  170(),  abolishing  all  existingpdulies  on  expor- 
tation of  corn,  &c. — Excess  of  exports  from  1697  to  1773 — Further  sta- 
tistics— References  to  Smith,  Ilallam,  and  Malthus,  on  this  subject — The 
cycle  of  good  seasons  from  1730  to  1755 — Prices  of  the  quartern  loaf  in 
London  in  1766 — Importation  allowed  in  1773 — Excess  of  exports  from 
1742  to  1751 — Suspensions  of  bounty  on  exportation — Dissatisfaction  of  the 
agriculturists — Increase  of  population  after  the  peace — New  mode  of  ascer- 
taining the  average  prices  of  corn,  &c. — The  movements  of  1732 — 
Weekly  returns  of  prices  established  in  1770 — The  important  act  of  1772, 
&c ...  142 

CHAPTER   IV. 

THIRD  PERIOD. FROM  1773  TO  1791. 

The  corn  act  of  1773 — Its  influence  on  tillage,  navigation,  &c. — Number  of 
acres  then  under  cultivation — The  landed  interests  dependent  upon  foreign 
supplies—  Dissatisfaction  consequent  on  this — Average  prices  of  corn  at 
this  period — Regulations  of  the  London  Corn  Exchange — New  regula- 
tions of  1788-89,  respecting  the  maritime  districts,  &c.  .  .  149 

CHAPTER   V. 

FOURTH  PERIOD. FROM  1791  TO  1804. 

New  scale  of  importation  duties  of  1791 — Excess  of  importation,  during  the 
thirteen  subsequent  years,  in  England — Sacrifices  induced  by  this — Scar- 
city of  grain,  and  its  consequences — Seizure  of  neutral  vessels  laden  with 
corn — Parliamentary  measures  for  economizing  the  consumption  of 
wheat — The  hair-powder  tax  imposed — Severe  distress  of  the  times — 
High  prices — Increased  scarcity — Further  measures  by  the  British  House 
of  Commons — Lord  Hawkesbury's  bill  in  1800 — New  public  projects  (o 
relieve  the  public  distress — Increased  high  prices — The  alloyance  system — 
Riots,  and  great  distress  of  the  lower  classes — Agricultural  wages  at  this 
period — Comparative  estimates  of  wages  and  provisions — Adam  Smith's 
remarks  on  this  subject — Remarks  of  Mr.  Milne — Prosperity  of  the  land- 
lords at  this  time  of  dearth — Injurious  results  to  trade  of  the  act  of 
Charles  II.,  &c.  ...  .  ...  153 


CONTENTS.  125 

CHAPTER   VI. 

FIFTH  PERIOD. FROM  1804  TO  1815. 

Amendments  to  the  act  of  1791,  in  1804 — Report  of  the  committee — New 
importation  rules — Increased  value  of  wheat — Its  consequences — Inju- 
rious effects  of  the  war — Prohibitory  enactments  and  decrees  with  respect 
to  America,  Berlin,  &c. — Supplies  from  France  and  the  Netherlands — 
High  prices  of  the  home  markets — Increased  taxation — Strike  of  the 
working-classes  in  1812 — Renewed  riots — Subsequent  reduction  in  prices 
— Reconsideration  of  the  corn  laws — Act  permitting  free  interchange  of 
corn  between  Ireland  and  England  in  1806 161 

CHAPTER   VII. 

SIXTH   PERIOD. FROM    1815    TO.  1822. 

The  new  importation  act  of  1815 — Average  prices  of  the  previous  year — 
Popular  commotion — Appeal  to  military  force — Protest  of  the  minor- 
ity against  the  passage  of  the  bill — Restrictive  character  of  the  act — 
Regulation  of  prices,  and  their  fluctuating  character — Fresh  proposals  in 
Parliament — Huskisson's  resolutions,  &c. — New  project  of  the  Commit- 
tee in  1821 — Plans  for  the  alleviation  of  the  agricultural  distress  in  1822 — 
Advance  of  wages — Proposition  for  an  exchequer  loan  of  £100,000,  by 
Lord  Londonderry 167 

CHAPTER   VIII. 

SEVENTH    PERIOD. — 'FROM    1822    TO    1828. 

Defects  of  the  law  of  1815 — Extraordinary  disparity  of  prices  from  1804 
to  1815 — Amendments  to  the  foregoing  act — Their  intentions,  and  the 
failure  of  them — The  importation  act  of  1826 — The  act  of  indemnity  for 
this  order — Canning's  measures  in  1827  for  graduated  scale  of  duties — 
Modifications  by  the  Duke  of  Wellington — Improvements  in  the  corn 
trade  in  North  American  colonies — Novel  scale  of  importation  charges — 
Inefficiency  of  the  fluctuating  scale,  &c. 177 

CHAPTER   IX. 

EIGHTH    PERIOD. FROM    1828    TO    THE    PRESENT   TIME. 

Lord  Glenelg's  bill  in  1828 — Still  in  force — Its  character  and  provisions — 
Average  scale  of  prices,  contrasted  with  that  of  Canning — Its  inefficiency 
11* 


126  CONTENTS. 

in  preventing  fluctuating  prices — The.  distress  of  1833  and  1836—  Condi- 
tion of  landlords  and  tenants — Theory  of  Gregory  King — Prices  in  1835 
and  '39 — Estimated  consumption  of  corn  in  Great  Britain,  its  cost,  &c. — 
Causes  of  stagnation  of  trade,  &c.  .  *^|^  ....  181 


CHAPTER    X. 

NINTH    PERIOD. MAY,    1841. 

Lord  John  Russell's  proposal  for  permanently  fixed  duties  on  imported 
corn,  &c. — Review  of  the  several  measures  of  the  British  legislature  on 
the  subject — Productive  industry  and  capabilities  of  England — The  plan 
of  the  proposed  alterations — Commercial  relations  at  the  peace,  and  the 
results  of  the  erroneous  policy — Representations  of  the  Committee  for 
Munich,  Dresden,  &c. — Comparative  exports  of  cotton-stufls  to  the  north 
in  1820  and  1828 — Considerations  on  the  proposed  scale  of  duties — Proba- 
ble results — Memorandum  from  the  department  of  the  customs  in  Eng- 
land— Erroneous  estimates  of  the  cost  of  foreign  corn — Extract  from 
McCulloch  on  this  point — Prices  of  the  Prussian  and  English  markets 
contrasted — Extract  from  Mr.  Jacob's  report  on  transportation  of  wheat 
to  Odessa,  Dantzic,  &c  — Account  of  the  consumption  of  wheat  and  flour, 
foreign  and  colonial,  in  the  United  Kingdom — Evidences  of  the  prejudi- 
cial influence  of  the  fluctuating  scale  of  prices,  &c.  ,  .  .  186 


HISTORY 


BRITISH    CORN-LAWS 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

Importance  of  the  subject — The  population  of  Great  Britain — Progress  of 
agricultural  industry  and  manufactures — Manufacturing  counties — Agri- 
cultural sections — Increase  of  immigration — Waste  lands  of  England — 
Divisions  of  the  subject — Periods  of  the  importation  and  exportation  of 
corn  in  England,  &c. 

OF  all  the  great  economical  questions  of  the  present  day, 
there  is  none  so  important  as  that  which  concerns  an  abun- 
dant supply  of  corn.  The  population  of  Great  Britain  is 
now  twice  as  great  as  it  was  fifty  years  ago,  and  may  be  es- 
timated at  19,000,000,  while  it  is  increasing  at  the  rate  of 
about  285,000  every  year.  At  the  same  time,  there  never 
before  existed  a  state  of  society  in  which  so  large  a  propor- 
tion of  the  population  obtained  a  share  of  the  produce  of  the 
soil  by  the  exercise  of  non-agricultural  industry  ;  only  about 
one  third  of  the  total  population  being  directly  engaged  in 
agriculture.  The  gigantic  progress  of  manufactures  is  in- 
dicated by  the  rapid  increase  of  the  population  in  those  coun- 
ties in  which  they  are  chiefly  established.  From  1700  to 
1831  the  population  of  Lancashire  increased  800  per  cent. ; 
Warwickshire  251  per  cent. ;  Staffordshire  250  ;  Notting- 
hamshire 246  ;  Cheshire  212  per  cent.  ;  and  in  other  coun- 


128  HISTORY   OF   THE 

ties  the  increase  varied  from  119  to  136  per  cent.  The  total 
population  of  ten  manufacturing  counties  was  2,529,000  in 
1800,  and  4,406,000  in  1831.  The  principal  agricultural 
counties  only  increased  84  per  cent,  in  the  period  from  1700 
to  1831.  There  is  a  constant  stream  of  immigration  into 
the  large  towns  and  manufacturing  districts  from  the  adja- 
cent agricultural  counties.  From  1821  to  1831  the  immi- 
gration into  Lancashire  proceeded  at  the  rate  of  17,000  a 
year.  In  1837  above  2000  persons  were  removed  to  the 
plaoes  of  manufacturing  industry  from  Suffolk,  at  the  ex- 
pense of  their  respective  parishes.  Of  this  number,  1675 
were  paupers,  who  had  received  a  sum  of  £1953,  in  the 
twelve  months  prior  to  their  removal.  On  the  one  hand,  in 
the  rural  districts,  we  have  a  population  fully  equal  to  the 
existing  demand  for  its  labor,  and  requiring  outlets  for  the 
increase  of  its  numbers  ;  and  on  the  other,  in  the  manufac- 
turing districts,  there  is  a  population  whose  consumption  con- 
fers a  much  higher  value  upon  agricultural  produce,  and 
where,  by  extending  the  field  of  employment,  room  is  made 
both  for  the  expansion  of  the  agricultural  and  non-agricul- 
tural population. 

The  improvements  in  agriculture  within  the  present  cen- 
tury have  greatly  increased  the  supply  of  food,  but  the 
experience  of  many  years  has  shown  that  our  population  is 
now,  to  a  great  extent,  dependent  upon  the  corn-growers  of 
other  countries ;  and  that,  when  the  crops  in  Great  Britain 
are  below  an  average,  and  even  when  they  are  not  abundant, 
the  rise  of  prices  creates  severe  distress  among  large  masses 
of  the  population,  unless  the  supply  of  corn  and  grain  is  in- 
creased by  importation.  This  distress  could  not  be  avoided, 
if  all  the  waste  lands  of  England  capable  of  improvement 
were  taken  into  cultivation.  In  an  old  country,  where  all 
the  best,  and  even  the  moderately  fertile  soils  have  long  been 
cultivated,  the  resort  to  those  of  inferior  powers  of  produc- 
tion, so  far  from  alleviating  the  distress  of  the  population, 


BRITISH    CORN-LAWS.  129 

will  hasten  its  poverty  and  degradation.  This,  therefore,  is 
not  one  of  the  resources  to  which  any  country  must  look  as 
a  means  of  obtaining  a  permanent  supply  of  food. 

In  the  following  sketch,  we  shall  pass  in  review  the  va- 
rious regulations  under  which  the  trade  in  corn  and  grain 
has  been  placed  at  different  periods.  We  shall  begin  with 
those  historical  details  which  are  necessary  to  be  known  in 
order  that  we  may  understand  what  the  corn-laws  are — what 
they  are  as  at  present  established,  and  out  of  what  previous 
circumstances  and  enactments  those  now  in  force  have 
grown. 

The  subject  divides  itself  into  two  periods : — 1st,  When 
England  exported  a  considerable  quantity  of  grain  annually ; 
and,  2d,  When  she  ceased  to  be  an  exporting,  and  became 
solely  an  importing  country.  In  these  two  periods  there 
occur  epochs  of  a  sufficiently  distinct  character  to  allow  of 
the  subject  being  treated  in  smaller  divisions,  to  each  of 
which  belongs  some  peculiarity  that  distinguishes  and  sepa- 
rates it  from  the  rest. 


130  HISTORY   OF  THE 

CHAPTER  II. 

FIRST   PERIOD. — FROM   EARLY  TIMES   TO    1688. 

Early  municipal  regulations  and  enactments — Early  discouragements  to 
importations — Progressof  agriculture  in  1436,  and  surplus  of  grain — Prices 
at  which  it  was  then  allowed  to  be  exported — Complaints  against  its  restric- 
tions— Subsequent  legal  enactments  for  the  protection  of  the  corn- 
grower — High  prices  of  wheat  in  England — Preamble  of  the  first  corn- 
law — Restrictive  statute  of  1463 — Subsequent  complaints  resulting  there- 
from— Allusions  to  this  in  Pastor's  letters — Motives  of  the  state  policy, 
&c. — Subsequent  acts  of  1533,  and  regulation  of  prices — Opposition  to 
the  laws  on  this  point — Enactments  respecting  farms,  <fcc. — Singular  regu- 
lations respecting  the  supply  of  articles  of  food,  &c. — Difficulties  conse- 
quent on  these — The  system  partially  inoperative — Freedom  of  export 
allowed  in  1554 — Extension  of  privileges — Averages  of  exportation  settled 
annually — Prices  at  which  importations  were  allowed— Effects  of  this 
regulation — After  enactments,  and  their  efTec'ts — The  law  of  1663,  and 
its  influence — Further  legislation  on  the  subject  in  1670 — New  limitation 
of  rates  of  exportation — Failure  of  its  object — Allusions  to  this  by  Roger 
Coke — Defective  harvests  of  1673,  *74,  and  '75 — Depressed  condition  of 
agriculturists — The  acts  of  1570  and  1670  compared. 

LITTLE  practical  advantage  would  arise  from  bestowing 
much  space  on  the  former  part  of  this  period.  In  a  statute  of 
the  thirteenth  century  we  find  the  average  prices  of  wheat 
and  other  grain  had  become  an  object  of  attention.  The 
following  directions  are  given  to  the  municipal  authorities  of 
towns,  in  the  statute  entitled  Judicium  Pillorie,  supposed  to 
be  of  the  date  of  51  Henry  III.  (1266-7)  :— "  First,  they 
shall  inquire  the  price  of  wheat ;  that  is,  to  wit,  how  a  quar- 
ter of  the  best  wheat  was  sold  the  last  market-day,  and  how 
the  second  wheat,  and  how  the  third  ;  and  how  a  quarter  of 
barley  and  oats."  In  1360  the  exportation  of  corn  was  pro- 
hibited by  statute.*  In  1393  corn  might  be  exported  by  the 
king's  subjects  "  to  what  parts  that  please  them,"  except  to 

*  34  Edw.  III.  c.  20. 


BRITISH   CORN-LAWS.  131 

the  king's  enemies.  "  Nevertheless,"  it  is  added,  "  the  king 
wills  that  his  council  may  restrain  the  said  passage  when 
they  shall  think  best  fpr  the  profit  of  the  realm."*  This 
act  was  confirmed  in  1425.f 

Thus  it  appears  that  in  those  early  times  sufficient  grain 
was  raised  in  England  to  admit  of  exportation.  It  was,  how- 
ever, the  policy  of  that  age  to  endeavor,  as  much  as  possi- 
ble, to  retain  within  the  kingdom  all  those  things  which  were 
indispensable  to  its  wants,  rather  than  by  permitting  freedom 
of  export  and  import  to  trust  to  the  operation  of  the  com- 
mercial principle  for  an  adequate  supply.  The  excess  of 
grain  must  have  been  very  considerable  to  have  allowed  any 
deviation  from  the  ordinary  practice  of  restriction.  In  the 
fourteenth  century,  it  seems  to  have  been  no  unusual  prac- 
tice for  the  different  countries  of  Europe  to  export  corn  ;$ 
and  it  must  have  been  exported  from  England  previous  to  the 
statute  of  1360,  as  that  act  was  intended  to  put  a  stop  to  it. 
Thirty-three  years  afterward,  as  already  stated,  the  export 
of  corn  was  expressly  encouraged. 

In  1436,  there  is  another  statute  indicative  of  the  progress 
of  agriculture,  and  of  the  existence  of  a  surplus  supply  of 
corn  in  this  country  ;  the  exportation  of  wheat  being  allowed 
without  the  king's  license,  when  the  price  per  quarter  at  the 
place  of  shipment  was  6*.  8d.  In  the  preamble  of  the  stat- 
ute the  restrictions  on  exportation  are  loudly  complained  of: 
— "  for  cause  whereof,  farmers  and  other  men,  which  use 
manurement  of  their  land,  may  not  sell  their  corn  but  of  a 
bare  price,  to  the  great  damage  of  all  the  realm;"  and  the 
remedy  provided  is  a  freer  permission  to  export  the  surplus 
— a  regulation  which  is  intended  for  the  profit  of  the  whole 
realm,  but  "  especially  for  the  counties  adjoining  to  the  sea."§ 


*  17  Ric.  H.  c.  7.  f  4  Hen.  VI.  c.  5. 

t  Account  of  the  Spasmodic  Cholera  of  the  Fourteenth  Century:  App. 
to  Rickman's  Summary  of  Population  Returns  of  1831,  Svo.  edit. 
§  15  Hen.  VI.  c.  2. 


132  HISTORY   OF    THE 

In  1441,  this  statute  was  continued,*  and  in  1444-5,  it  was 
rendered  perpetual. f 

Nearly  thirty  years  after  the  statute  of  1436,  occurs  the 
first  symptom  of  a  corn-law,  for  the  protection  of  the  home- 
grower  from  the  effects  of  a  supply  of  foreign  grain.  From 
this  we  may  conclude  that  the  balance  of  prices  had  turned ; 
and  that,  at  least  for  a  time,  prices  were  higher  in  England 
than  in  the  neighboring  countries.  This  might  be  the  result 
of  abundant  seasons  on  the  continent ;  but,  at  all  events,  the 
importation  from  other  countries  gave  rise  to  complaints, 
which  were  followed  by  a  statute  passed  in  1463,  in  the  pre- 
amble of  which  it  is  remarked  that,  "  Whereas  the  laborers 
and  occupiers  of  husbandry  within  this  realm  be  daily  griev- 
ously endamaged  by  bringing  of  corn  out  of  other  lands  and 
parts  into  this  realm,  when  corn  of  the  growing  of  this  realm 
is  at  a  low  price  ;"^  in  remedy  of  which  it  was  enacted  that 
wheat  should  not  be  imported,  unless  the  price  at  the  place 
of  import  exceeded  6*.  8d.  per  quarter.  Up  to  this  time, 
there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  the  importation  of  corn  from 
abroad  had  been  either  prohibited  or  subjected  to  restriction. 
Such  a  prohibition  would  have  been  opposed  to  the  spirit  of 
our  old  commercial  policy,  which  was  anxiously  directed  to 
the  object  of  attracting  to  the  country,  and  preserving  within 
it,  as  much  food  as  possible.  The  agricultural  interest  had 
already  succeeded  in  carrying  one  modification  of  the  old 
principle,  by  which  they  obtained  the  liberty  of  sending  corn 
abroad,  and  their  ascendancy  was  still  further  indicated  by 
the  restriction  on  the  importation  of  corn  imposed  by  the  stat- 
ute of  1463.  So  long  as  the  price  of  wheat  was  below  6s. 
8d.  per  quarter,  exportation  was  free,  and  importation  was 
prohibited.  The  price,  therefore,  was  intended  to  be  sus- 
tained at  that  height,  so  far  as  it  was  possible  so  to  sustain  it 
by  legislative  contrivance  ;  and  the  benefit  of  the  corn-grower 

*  20  Hen.  VI.  c.  6.  f  23  Hen.  VI.  c.  5.  J  3  Edw.  IV.  c.  2. 


BRITISH   CORN-LAWS.  133 

was  the  sole  object  of  the  statute.  In  1474,  (eleven  years 
after  the  statute  3  Edw.  IV.  c.  2,  was  passed,)  we  have  the 
authority  of  the  Paston  Letters  in  proof  of  the  suffering  ex- 
perienced from  the  want  of  a  market  for  the  superabundant 
supply  of  grain.  Margaret  Paston,  writing  to  her  son  on  the 
29th  of  Jan.  1474,  after  quoting  the  very  low  price  of  corn 
and  grain,  says — "  There  is  none  outload  suffered  to  go  out 
of  this  country  as  yet ;  the  king  hath  commanded  that  there 
should  none  go  out  of  this  land.  I  fear  me  we  shall  have 
right  a  strange  world  :  God  amend  it  when  his  will  is."*  In 
a  letter  written  in  the  following  year,  she  makes  the  same 
complaints  about  low  prices  and  the  scarcity  of  money .f 
The  gentry  and  farmers  of  this  period  were  in  much  the 
same  condition  in  regard  to  money  matters  as  the  land  own- 
ers of  Poland  and  other  parts  of  northern  and  eastern  Europe 
at  the  present  time,  after  abundant  harvests,  with  the  ports  of 
the  best  markets  temporarily  or  permanently  closed  against 
the  admission  of  their  surplus  produce.  The  protective  stat- 
ute of  1463  had  possibly  stimulated  tillage  beyond  the  de- 
mand of  the  home  market,  and  the  abundance  of  the  harvest 
in  other  countries  caused  the  ports  to  be  closed  against  them, 
or,  as  in  the  instance  alluded  to  by  Margaret  Paston,  exporta- 
tion was  prohibited  from  some  motives  of  state  policy. 

In  1533-4,  an  end  was  put  to  the  system  of  free  exporta- 
tion which  had  been  established  in  1463,  and,  with  some  few 
occasional  exceptions,  had  continued  from  that  time  ;  and 
thenceforth  it  was  forbidden  to  export  corn  and  provisions 
without  the  king's  license.  The  statute  enacted  for  this  pur- 
pose:}: was  intended  to  keep  down  prices,  though  the  preamble 
sets  out  with  the  rational  observation  that,  "  forasmuch  as 
dearth,  scarcity,  good  cheap,  [good  market,]  and  plenty,  [of 
victual,]  happeneth,  riseth,  and  chanceth,  of  so  many  and 


*  Paston  Letters,  vol.  ii.  p.  91.    Edit,  by  A.  Ramsay.        t  Ibid  p.  93. 
i  23  lien.  VIII.  c.  2. 
12 


134  HISTORY   OF   THE 

divers  reasons,  that  it  is  very  hard  and  difficult  to  put  any 
certain  prices  to  any  such  things."  It  however  ended  by 
enacting  that,  on  complaint  being  made  of  high  prices,  they 
shall  be  regulated  by  the  lords  of  the  council,  and  made 
known  by  proclamation  ;  and  that  farmers  and  others  shall 
sell  their  commodities  at  the  prices  thus  fixed. 

During  the  greater  part  of  the  16th  century,  a  struggle 
was  maintained  by  the  makers  of  the  laws  against  the  rise 
of  prices,  which  characterized  nearly  the  whole  of  that  pe- 
riod. The  discouragement  of  tillage,  and  the  increase  of 
sheep-pastures  were  supposed  to  be  the  main  causes  of  this 
rise.  In  1533,  a  statute  was  passed  which  enacted  that  no 
man  should  keep  more  than  two  thousand  sheep,  except  on 
his  own  land,  and  that  no  tenant  should  rent  more  than  two 
farms.*  The  statute  entitled  "  An  Act  for  the  Maintenance 
and  Increase  of  Tillage  and  Corn,"  attempted  to  force  culti- 
vation, by  enacting  that  for  the  future  at  least  as  much  land 
should  be  tilled  in  every  parish,  as  had  been  under  the  plough 
at  any  time  since  the  accession  of  Henry  VIII.,  under  a  pen- 
alty, to  be  exacted  from  the  parish,  of  5s.  for  every  acre  that 
should  be  deficient. 

This  remarkable  period  in  the  history  of  agriculture,  and 
in  the  social  condition  of  the  people,  was  marked  by  other 
singular  regulations  respecting  the  supply  of  the  necessaries 
of  life,  and  their  price.  In  September,  1549,  a  proclamation 
was  issued,  directed  against  dealers  in  the  principal  articles 
of  food.  According  to  it,  no  man  was  to  buy  and  sell  the 
self-same  thing  again,  except  brokers,  and  they  were  not  to 
have  more  than  ten  quarters  of  grain  in  their  possession  at 
one  time.  This  proclamation  directed  "  that  all  justices 
should  divide  themselves  into  the  hundreds,  and  look  what  su- 
perfluous corn  was  in  every  barn,  and  appoint  it  to  be  sold  at 
a  reasonable  price ;  also,  that  one  must  be  in  every  market- 

*  25  Hen.  V1U.  c.  13. 


BRITISH    CORN-LAWS.  135 

town,  to  see  the  corn  bought.  Whoso  brought  no  corn  to 
market,  as  he  was  appointed,  was  to  forfeit  £10,  unless  the 
purveyors  took  it  up,  or  it  was  sold  to  the  neighbors."*  Obe- 
dience to  these  regulations  was  not  confined  to  the  temporary 
provisions  of  a  proclamation  ;  but  in  1551—2,  they  were, with 
some  modifications,  embodied  in  a  statute. f  By  this  enact- 
ment, engrossers  (persons  buying  corn  to  sell  again)  were 
subjected  to  heavy  penalties.  For  the  third  offence  they 
were  to  be  set  in  the  pillory,  to  forfeit  their  personal  effects, 
and  to  be  imprisoned  during  the  king's  pleasure.  Farmers 
buying  corn  for  seed  were  compelled  to  sell  at  the  same  time 
an  equal  quantity  of  their  corn  in  store,  under  penalty  of 
forfeiting  double  the  value  of  what  they  had  bought.  Per- 
sons might  engross  corn,  not  forestalling  it — that  is,  enhancing 
the  price  or  preventing  the  supply — when  wheat  was  under 
6s.  8d.  per  quarter. 

In  1562-3  a  further  attempt  was  made  to  restrict  the  opera- 
tions of  buying  and  selling  in  articles  of  food,  as  well  as 
many  other  commodities.  The  5  and  6  Edw.  VI.  c.  14,  al- 
ready quoted,  contained  a  proviso  that  corn-badgers,  allowed 
to  that  office  by  three  justices  of  the  peace  of  the  county 
where  the  said  badger  dwelt,  could  buy  provisions  in  open 
fair  or  market  for  towns  and  cities,  and  sell  them,  without 
being  guilty  of  the  offence  of  forestalling ;  but  this  relaxa- 
tion of  the  statute  was  corrected  by  another  statute  passed  in 
1562-3,:]:  in  the  preamble  of  which  the  former  enactment  is 
thus  alluded  to  : — "  Since  the  making  of  which  act,  such  a 
great  number  of  persons,  seeking  only  to  live  easily,  and  to 
leave  their  honest  labor,  have,  and  do  daily  seek  to  be  al- 
lowed to  the  said  office,  being  most  unfit  and  unmeet  for  those 
purposes,  and  also  very  hurtful  to  the  commonwealth  of  this 
realm,  as  well  as  by  enhancing  the  price  of  corn  and  grain, 


*  King  Edw.  VI. 's  Journal ;  Sharon  Turner's  Hist.  Eng.  vol.  i.  p.  172. 
1 5  and  6  Edw.  VI.  c.  14.  t  5  Eliz.  c.  12. 


136  HISTORY    OF    THE 

as  also  by  the  diminishing  of  good  and  necessary  husband, 
men."  It  was  then  enacted  that  the  licenses  to  corn-badgers 
should  only  be  granted  once  a-year  by  the  justices  at  quarter, 
sessions,  instead  of  at  any  period  by  three  justices  ;  and  that 
none  were  to  obtain  a  license  but  resident  householders  of 
three  years'  standing,  who  are  or  have  been  married,  and  of 
the  age  of  thirty,  and  are  not  servants  or  retainers  to  another 
person.  Those  who  received  a  license  were  to  have  it  re- 
newed at  the  end  of  every  year.  Licensed  persons  were 
also  required  to  find  security  not  to  forestall  or  engross  in 
their  dealings,  and  not  to  buy  out  of  open  fair  or  market,  ex- 
cept under  express  license.  The  statute  did  not  apply  to  the 
counties  of  Westmoreland,  Cumberland,  Lancaster,  Chester, 
and  York. 

It  was  scarcely  possible  for  the  legislature  to  do  more 
towards  the  discouragement  of  a  most  useful  class  of  men, 
whose  operations  are  of  such  service  to  society  in  general, 
and  to  the  poor  in  particular.  But  enactments  of  this  de- 
scription were  loudly  demanded  by  the  people,  who  could 
scarcely  get  bread  sometimes,  in  consequence  of  the  high 
price  of  provisions,  which  they  attributed  to  the  intervention 
of  the  corn-dealer  between  the  producer  and  consumer. 

The  system  introduced  in  1534,  under  which  exportation 
was  interdicted,  lasted  about  twenty  years,  and  even  during 
that  period,  was  most  probably  in  a  great  degree  inoperative. 

In  1554  a  new  act  was  passed,*  which  restored  the  freedom 
of  export  so  long  as  the  price  of  wheat  should  not  exceed  6s. 
8d.,  that  of  rye  4s.,  and  that  of  barley  3s.  per  quarter.  The 
preamble  complains  that  former  acts  against  the  exportation 
of  grain  and  provisions  had  been  evaded,  by  reason  whereof 
they  had  grown  untoa  "wonderful  dearth  and  extreme  prices." 
Under  the  present  act,  when  prices  exceeded  6s.  8d.  per 
quarter  for  wheat,  exportation  was  to  cease  ;  and  when  it  was 

*1  and  2  Phil,  and  Mary,  c.  5. 


BTUTISJI   CORN-LAWS.  137 

under  that  price  it  could  not  be  exported  to  any  foreign  coun- 
try, or  to  Scotland,  without  a  license,  under  penalty  of  for- 
feiting double  the  value  of  the  cargo,  as  well  as  the  vessel, 
besides  imprisonment  of  the  master  and  mariners  of  the  vessel 
for  one  year.  The  penalty  for  exporting  a  greater  quantity 
than  was  warranted  by  the  license  was  treble  the  value  of 
the  cargo,  and  imprisonment ;  and  a  cargo  could  be  taken 
only  to  the  port  mentioned  in  the  license.  The  object  of  the 
act  was  in  effect  to  prevent  exportation  when  there  was  not  a 
sufficient  supply  in  the  home  market,  and  to  permit  it  to  be 
sent  abroad  so  long  as  it  was  below  a  certain  price  at  home. 

In  1562,  only  eight  years  after  the  above  act  had  been 
passed,  the  liberty  of  exportation  was  extended,  and  wheat 
might  be  carried  out  of  the  country  when  the  average,  price 
was  10s.  per  quarter,  that  of  rye,  peas,  and  beans  8s.,  and 
that  of  barley  or  malt  6s.  8d.  per  quarter.*  The  better  to 
prevent  evasion  of  the  law,  it  was  at  the  same  time  enacted 
that  the  commodity  should  only  be  exported  from  such  ports 
as  her  Majesty  might  by  proclamation  appoint. 

In  1571  a  statute  was  passed f  which  contains  provisions 
for  settling  once  a-year  the  average  prices  by  which  expor- 
tation should  be  governed.  The  Lord  President  and  Council 
in  the  North,  also  the  Lord  President  and  Council  in  Wales, 
and  the  Justices  of  Assize,  within  their  respective  jurisdic- 
tions, "  yearly  shall,  upon  conference  had  with  the  inhabitants 
of  the  country,  of  the  cheapness  and  dearth  of  any  kinds  of 
grain,"  determine  "  whether  it  shall  be  meet  at  any  time  to 
permit  any  grain  to  be  carried  out  of  any  port  within  the  said 
several  jurisdictions  or  limits  ;  and  so  shall,  in  writing,  under 
their  hands  and  seal,  cause  and  make  a  determination  either 
for  permission  or  prohibition,  and  the  same  cause  to  be,  by 
the  sheriff  of  the  counties,  published  and  affixed  in  as  many 
accustomed  market-towns  and  ports  within  the  said  shire  as 


*  5  Eliz.  c.  5.  f  13  Eliz.  c.  13. 

12* 


138  HISTORY    OF    THE 

they  shall  think  convenient."  The  averages,  when  once 
struck,  were  to  continue  in  force  until  the  same  authorities 
ordered  otherwise ;  and  if  their  regulations  should  "  be  hurtful 
to  the  country  by  means  of  dearth,  or  be  a  great  hindrance 
to  tillage  by  means  of  too  much  cheapness,"  they  could  make 
the  necessary  alterations.  All  proceedings  under  this  act 
were  to  be  notified  to  the  queen  or  privy  council.  The 
statute  enacted  that,  "  for  the  better  increase  of  tillage,  and 
for  maintenance  and  increase  of  the  navy  and  mariners  of 
this  realm,"  corn  might  be  exported  at  all"  times  to  friendly 
countries,  when  proclamation  was  not  made  to  the  contrary. 
A  poundage  or  customs  duty  of  Is.  per  quarter  was  charged 
on  all  wheat  exported ;  but  if  exported  under  a  special  license, 
and  not  under  the  act,  the  customs  duty  was  25.  per  quarter. 

The  law  of  1463,  which  prohibited  importation  so  long  as 
the  price  of  wheat  was  under  6s.  Sd.,  that  of  rye  under  4s., 
and  that  of  barley  under  3s.  the  quarter,  appears  not.  to  have 
been  repealed,  but  it  must  have  remained  inoperative,  from 
the  prices  seldom  or  probably  never  descending  below  these 
rates.  The  importation  of  corn,  therefore,  we  may  reckon 
to  have  been  practically  free  at  this  time,  so  far  as  the  law 
could  render  it  so. 

In  1592-3  the  price  at  which  exportation  was  permitted 
was  raised  to  20s.  per  quarter,  and  the  customs  duty  was 
fixed  at  2s.*  In  1603-4  the  importation  price  was  raised  to 
26s.  8d.  per  quarter  ;f  and,  in  1623,  to  32s4 — having  risen, 
in  the  course  of  sixty-five  years,  from  6s.  8d.  By  the  21 
Jac.  I.  c.  28,  unless  wheat  was  under  32s.  per  quarter,  and 
other  grain  in  proportion,  buying  corn  and  selling  it  again 
was  not  permitted.  The  king  could  restrain  the  liberty  of 
exportation  by  proclamation.  In  1627-8  another  statute^ 
relative  to  the  corn-trade  was  passed,  which,  however,  made 


*  35  Eliz.  c.  7.  1 1  Jac.  I.  c.  25. 

j21  Jac.  c.  28.  §3  Car.  I.  c.  5. 


BRITISH    CORN-LAWS.  139 

no  alteration  in  the  previous  statute  of  James  I.  In  1660  a 
new  scale  of  duties  was  introduced.  When  the  price  of 
wheat  per  quarter  was  under  44s.  the  export  duty  was  55. 
6d. ;  and  when  the  price  was  above  44s.,  the  duty  rose  to  6s. 
8d.  Exportation  was  permitted  free  whenever  the  price  of 
wheat  did  not  exceed  405.  per  quarter.* 

In  1663  the  corn-trade  again  became  the  subject  of  legis- 
lation, and  an  act  was  passed^  which  favored  the  corn- 
grower,  or  at  any  rate  that  portion  of  the  community  con- 
nected with  and  dependent  upon  agriculture,  to  a  greater 
extent  than  any  previous  statute.  The  preamble  of  this  act 
commenced  by  asserting  that  "  the  surest  and  effectualest 
means  of  promoting  and  advancing  any  trade,  occupation,  or 
mystery,  being  by  rendering  it  profitable  to  the  users  thereof," 
and  that,  large  quantities  of  land  being  waste,  which  might 
be  profitably  cultivated  if  sufficient  encouragement  were  given 
for  the  cost  and  labor  on  the  same,  it  should  be  enacted,  with 
a  view  of  encouraging  the  application  of  capital  and  labor 
to  waste  lands,  that,  after  September,  1663,  when  wheat  did 
not  exceed  48*.  per  quarter  at  the  places  and  havens  of  ship- 
ment, the  export  duty  should  be  only  5s.  <ld.  per  quarter. 
The  demand  of  the  home  market  was  not  sufficient  to  take 
off  the  surplus  produce  of  the  corn-growers,  and  the  reduc- 
tion of  the  duty  was  intended  to  encourage  exportation.  By 
the  same  act  when  wheat  did  not  exceed  48s.  per  quarter, 
"  then  it  shall  be  lawful  for  all  and  every  person  (not  fore- 
stalling nor  selling  the  same  in  the  open  market  within  three 
months  after  the  buying  thereof)  to  buy  in  open  market,  and 
to  keep  in  his  or  their  granaries  or  houses,  and  to  sell  again, 
such  corn  and  grain,"  any  statute  to  the  contrary  notwith- 
standing. The  latter  part  of  this  statute  may  be  regarded  as 
indicating  a  juster  view  than  others  passed  since  the  5  and  6 
Edw.  VI.  c.  14. 

*  12  Car.  II.  c.  4.  f  15  Car.  II.  c.  7. 


140  HISTORY   OF    THE 

In  1670  a  further  important  change  was  made  in  the  same 
direction,  exportation  being  permitted  as  long  as  wheat  should 
be  under  53s.  4<Z.  the  quarter,  the  customs  duty  being  only 
1*.  per  quarter.  Corn  imported  from  foreign  countries  was 
at  the  same  time  loaded  with  duties  so  heavy  as  effectually  to 
exclude  it,  being  16s.  when  the  price  in  this  country  was  at 
or  under  53s.  kd.  per  quarter,  and  8s.  when  above  that  price 
and  under  80.?.,  at  which  latter  price  importation  became  free.* 
The  object  of  this  act  was  to  relieve  the  agricultural  interests 
from  the  depression  under  which  they  were  laboring  from  the 
low  prices  of  produce  which  had  existed  for  twenty  years, 
more  particularly  from  1646  to  1665,  and  also  more  or  less 
during  the  greater  part  of  the  century.  Between  1617  and 
1621  wheat  fell  from  43s.  3tZ.  the  quarter  to  27s.,  in  conse- 
quence of  which  farmers  were  unable  to  pay  their  rents. 
The  low  price  was  occasioned  by  abundant  harvests ;  "  for 
remedy  whereof  the  Council  have  written  letters  into  every 
shire,  and  some  say  to  every  market-town,  to  provide  a  granary 
or  storehouse,  with  a  stock  to  buy  corn,  and  keep  it  for  a  dear 
year."f  The  cheapness  of  wheat  was  attended  with  the  good 
effect  of  raising  the  standard  of  diet  amongst  the  poorer 
classes,  who  are  described  as  "  traversing  the  markets  to  find 
out  the  finest  wheats,  for  none  else  would  now  serve  their  use, 
though  before  they  were  glad  of  the  coarser  rye-bread.":):  The 
act  of  1670  does  not  appear  to  have  answered  its  object. 
Roger  Coke,  writing  in  1671,  says — "  The  ends  designed  by 
the  acts  against  the  importation  of  Irish  cattle,  of  raising  the 
rents  of  the  lands  of  England,  are  so  far  from  being  attained 
that  the  contrary  hath  ensued  ;"§  and  he  speaks  of  a  great 
diminution  of  cultivation. 

The  harvests  of  1673-4-5  proved  defective,  and  the  same 
result  occurred  in  1677-8,  so  that  the  average  price  of  the 


*  22  Car.  II.  c.  13.  f  Contemporary  writers  quoted  by  Mr.  Tooke 

in  his  '  Hist,  of  Prices.'  J  Ibid.  §  Ibid. 


BRITISH    CORX-LAWS.  141 

seven  years  ending  1672,  during  which  wheat  ranged  at  36*. 
the  quarter,  was  followed  in  the  seven  subsequent  years, 
ending  1679,  by  an  average  of  46s.,  being  a  rise  of  nearly 
30  per  cent.  Under  this  encouragement  there  was  a  con- 
siderable extension  of  tillage,  and  the  years  of  scarcity  being 
followed  by  twelve  abundant  seasons  in  succession,  (with  the 
exception  of  1684,  which  was  somewhat  deficient,)  the  price 
of  corn  and  grain  again  sunk  very  low.  In  the  six  years 
ending  1691  the  average  price  of  wheat  was  29s.  f>d.  the 
quarter,  and  if  the  four  years  ending  1691  be  taken,  the 
average  price  was  only  27*.  Id.,  being  lower  than  at  any 
period  during  the  whole  of  the  century.  There  was  no  com- 
petition in  the  English  market  with  the  foreign  grower  during 
the  above-mentioned  years  of  low  prices  ;  exportation  was 
freely  permitted  on  payment  of  a  nominal  duty  ;  but  scarcely 
ever  had  the  agriculturists  been  in  so  depressed  a  state. 
The  means  which  they  took  to  relieve  themselves  will  be 
noticed  in  the  next  period. 

Before  closing  this  section  we  may  notice  the  alteration 
which  took  place  in  1670  in  the  mode  of  striking  the  average 
prices  of  corn  and  grain.  The  old  system  established  in  1570 
(13  Eliz.  c.  13)  was  acted  upon  until  1685,  the  Corn  Act  of 
1670  having  neglected  the  necessary  directions  for  an  altera- 
tion. These  were  made  by  a  statute  which  enacted  that 
justices  of  the  peace,  in  counties  wherein  foreign  corn  might 
be  imported,  may,  at  quarter-sessions,  by  the  oaths  of  two 
persons  duly  qualified,  that  is,  possessed  of  freehold  estates 
of  the  annual  value  of  20Z.,  or  leasehold  estates  of  507.,  and 
not  being  corn-dealers,  and  by  such  other  means  as  they  shall 
see  fit,  determine  the  market  price  of  middling  English  corn, 
which  is  to  be  certified  on  oath,  hung  up  in  some  public  place, 
and  sent  to  the  chief  officer  at  the  custom-house  in  each 
district. 


142  HISTORY   OF   THE 

CHAPTER    III. 

SECOND    PERIOD. FROM    1689    TO    1773. 

High  prices  of  the  seven  years  ending  1679 — Their  effects,  &c. — Bounties 
on  exportation  of  corn — Preamble  of  the  act  authorizing  this — Term  of 
its  suspension — New  act  of  1700,  abolishing  all  existing  duties  on  expor- 
tation of  corn,  &c. — Excess  of  exports  from  1697  to  1773 — Further  sta- 
tistics— References  to  Smith,  Ilallam,  and  Malthus,  on  this  subject — The 
cycle  of  good  seasons  from  1730  to  1755 — Prices  of  the  quartern  loaf  in 
London  in  1766 — Importation  allowed  in  1773 — Excess  of  exports  from 
1742  to  1751 — Suspensions  of  bounty  on  exportation — Dissatisfaction  of  the 
agriculturists — Increase  of  population  after  the  peace — New  mode  of  ascer- 
taining the  average  prices  of  corn,  &c. — The  movements  of  1732 — 
Weekly  returns  of  prices  established  in  1770 — The  important  act  of  1772, 
&c.  — 

IN  1689,  immediately  after  the  Revolution,  the  landowners 
succeeded  in  carrying  a  very  important  measure.  The  high 
prices  of  the  seven  years  ending  1679  had  doubtless  encour- 
aged tillage,  and  a  succession  of  favorable  seasons  had  under 
these  circumstances  led  to  a  great  depreciation  in  the  value 
of  agricultural  produce.  Exportation  of  corn  therefore  was 
not  only  to  be  permitted  as  heretofore,  but  actually  encour- 
aged by  bounties.  The  statute  for  granting  bounties  is  enti- 
tled "An  Act  for  Encouraging  the  Exportation  of  Corn."* 
The  preamble  stated  that  it  had  been  "  found  by  experience 
that  the  exportation  of  corn  and  grain  into  foreign  countries, 
when  the  price  thereof  is  at  a  low  rate  in  this  kingdom,  hath 
been  a  great  advantage,  not  only  to  the  owners  of  land,  but 
to  the  traders  of  this  kingdom  in  general;"  and  clauses  were 
enacted  granting  5s.  the  quarter  on  the  exportation  of  wheat, 
so  long  as  the  home  price  did  not  exceed  48*. ;  with  other 
bounties  of  smaller  amount  upon  the  exportation  of  barley, 
malt,  and  rye.  It  was  supposed  that  the  farmers  and  land- 

*  1  Wm.  and  Mary,  c.  12. 


BRITISH   CORN-LAWS.  143 

holders  would  thus  be  relieved  from  the  distress  arising  from 
low  prices.  They  were  in  possession  of  a  market  the  sole 
supply  of  which  they  had  secured  to  themselves  by  the  act 
of  1670,  and  by  the  Bounty  Act  they  endeavored  to  prevent 
that  market  being  overstocked  by  their  own  commodity. 

The  seven  years  immediately  succeeding  1693  were  re- 
markable for  a  succession  of  unfavorable  seasons.  In  the 
four  years  ending  1691  the  price  of  wheat  averaged  27s.  Id. 
the  quarter,  but  in  the  four  years  preceding  and  including 
1699  it  reached  56*.  Gd.  The  bounty  was  inoperative  during 
this  period,  and  was  suspended  by  an  act  of  Parliament  from 
the  9th  of  February.  1699,  to  the  29th  of  September,  1700. 
Nevertheless,  in  order  that  no  fears  might  be  excited  by  this 
temporary  suspension,  the  preamble  contained  an  acknow- 
ledgment that  the  statute  granting  the  bounty  "was  grounded 
upon  the  highest  wisdom  and  prudence,  and  has  succeeded, 
to  the  greatest  benefit  and  advantage  to  the  nation  by  the 
greatest  encouragement  of  tillage."*  Before  this  temporary 
act  had  expired,  another  act  was  passed,f  in  J.700,  by  which 
the  encouragement  of  the  home  corn-grower  was  carried  still 
further  by  the  abolition  of  all  the  then  existing  duties  on  the 
export  of  corn.  "  From  1697  to  1773  the  total  excess  of 
exports  was  30,968,366  quarters,  upon  which  export  bounties, 
amounting  to  6,237,176?.,  were  paid  out  of  the  public  reve- 
nue.":}: In  1750  the  sum  of  324,176/.  was  paid  in  bounties 
on  corn.  The  exports  of  1748-9-50  (during  which,  more- 
over, the  price  of  wheat  fell  from  32s.  W±d.  to  285.  lOfrf. 
the  quarter)  amounted  to  2,120,000  quarters  of  whe.at,  and 
of  all  kinds  of  corn  and  grain  to  3,825,000  quarters.  This 
was  the  result  of  a  cycle  of  abundant  years.  In  the  twenty- 
three  years  from  1692  to  1715,  says  Mr.  Tooke,  in  his  elabo- 
rate '  History  of  Prices,'  there  were  eleven  bad  seasons, 
during  which  the  average  price  of  wheat  was  45s.  8d.  the 

*  12  Wm.  III.  c.  1.  1 11  and  12  Wm.  III.  c.  20. 

4  Report  of  Commonb  on  Agric.  Distress,  1821. 


144  HISTORY    OF    THE 

quarter;  in  the  fifty  years  ending  1765  there  were  only  five 
deficient  harvests,  and  the  average  price  for  the  whole  half- 
century,  ranged  at  34s.  lid. ;  or,  taking  the  ten  years  ending 
1751,  during  which  the  crops  were  above  an  average,  the 
price  of  wheat  was  only  29s.  2i<Z.  the  quarter. 

These  years  of  plenty  seem  to  have  been  a  very  happy 
period  to  the  bulk  of  the  population.  Adam  Smith  refers  to 
"  the  peculiarly  happy  circumstances  "  of  the  country  during 
these  times  of  plenty  ;  and  Mr.  Hallam  describes  the  reign 
of  George  II.  as  "  the  most  prosperous  period  that  England 
had  ever  experienced."  The  effect  was  similar  to  that  which 
took  place  during  the  plentiful  seasons  of  the  preceding  cen- 
tury, and  the  improved  condition  of  the  people  was  marked 
by  the  enjoyment  of  greater  comforts  and  the  resort  to  a  su- 
perior diet  which  their  command  over  the  necessaries  of  life 
enabled  them  to  obtain.  "  Bread  made  of  wheat  is  become 
more  generally  the  food  of  the  laboring  people,  "observes  the 
author  of  the  '  Corn  Tracts,'  writing  in  1765.  Referring  to 
the  same  period,  Mr.  Malthus  remarks  : — "  It  is  well  known 
that  during  this  period  the  price  of  corn  fell  considerably, 
while  the  wages  of  labor  are  stated  to  have  risen.  During 
the  last  forty  years  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  the  first 
twenty  of  the  eighteenth,  the  average  price  of  corn  was  such 
as,  compared  with  the  wages  of  labor,  would  enable  the  la- 
borer to  purchase  with  a  day's  earnings  two  thirds  of  a  peck 
of  wheat.  From  1720  to  1750  the  price  of  wheat  had  so 
fallen,  while  wages  had  risen,  that,  instead  of  two  thirds,  the 
laborer  could  purchase  the  whole  of  a  peck  of  wheat  with  a 
day's  labor."  Mr.  Malthus  adds  that  the  result  of  this  in- 
creased command  over  the  necessaries  of  life  was  not  attended 
with  an  increase  of  population  exclusively, — "a  considerable 
portion  of  their  increased  net  wages  was  expended  in  a 
marked  improvement  of  the  quality  of  the  food  consumed, 
and  a  decided  elevation  in  the  standard  of  their  comforts  and 
conveniences."  Trade  was  flourishing  and  the  exports  and 


BRITISH    CORN-LAWS.  145 

imports  progressively  increasing  during  this  period  of  abun- 
dance. 

The  cycle  of  good  seasons  which  the  country  had  for  so 
long  a  period  fortunately  enjoyed,  (for  twenty-six  years, 
from  1730  to  1755,  there  had  been  only  one  unfavorable 
season,)  was  followed  by  a  succession  of  bad  years,  in  which 
the  harvests  proved  as  deficient  as  they  had  before  been 
abundant.  From  1765  to  1775  there  was  a  very  frequent 
recurrence  of  unfavorable  years,  and  the  last  five  years  of 
this  period  were  all  of  this  character.  In  1766,  the  quartern 
loaf  was  selling  in  London  at  Is.  6d. ;  addresses  were  sent 
up  from  various  parts  of  the  country  complaining  of  general 
distress  ;  and  a  proclamation  was  issued  suspending  exporta- 
tion, and  for  enforcing  the  laws  against  forestallers  and  re- 
graters.  Exportation  was  suspended  also  in  the  following 
year,  as  was  the  case  also  in  1770  and  1771.  In  1772,  im- 
portation was  allowed  duty-free  to  the  1st  of  May,  1773  ;  and 
in  this  latter  year  the  city  of  London  offered  a  bounty  of  4.s. 
per  quarter  for  20,000  quarters  of  wheat,  to  be  imported  be- 
tween March  and  June.  The  average  prices  of  wheat  had 
risen  from  29s.  2±d.  in  the  ten  years  ending  1751,  to  51s. 
for  the  ten  years  ending  1774,  being  an  advance  of  75  per 
cent.  The  excess  of  exports  from  1742  to  1751  had  been 
4,700,509  quarters  of  wheat,  and,  including  all  kinds  of 
grain,  had  amounted  to  8,869,190  quarters,  but  from  1766 
to  1775  there  was  an  excess  of  imports  to  the  extent  of 
1,363,149  quarters  of  wheat,  and  3,782,734  of  corn  and 
grain  of  all  kinds.  The  old  corn-law  of  1689,  under  which 
a  bounty  on  exportation  had  been  granted,  was  now  become 
a  dead  letter,  in  consequence  of  the  high  range  of  prices  in 
the  home  market.  The  right  to  export  had  been  frequently 
suspended,  though  only  for  short  periods,  in  the  hope  that 
more  plentiful  harvests  or  the  greater  extension  of  tillage 
would  again  bring  back  the  old  state  of  things.  These  sus- 
pensions of  the  bounty  excited  the  dissatisfaction  of  the  ag- 

13 


146  HISTORY  OF    THE 

riculturists.  "  From  the  year  1766  to  the  present  time, 
(1773,)  we  have  had  a  perpetual  shifting  policy,  in  which 
nothing  has  been  permanent.  *  * 

Every  year  has  produced  a  temporary  act  suspending  the 
operation  of  those  laws  which  had  proved  of  such  excellent 
utility."* 

The  increase  of  population  after  the  peace  of  1763  was 
rapidly  advancing  with  the  growth  of  trade  and  manufactures. 
In  the  reign  of  George  I.  there  had  only  been  sixteen  enclo- 
sure acts  passed  ;  in  the  succeeding  reign  there  were  226  ; 
but,  stimulated  by  the  high  prices  resulting  from  deficient 
harvests,  the  number  of  such  acts  from  1760  to  1772  inclu- 
sive, amounted  to  585.  The  population  of  England  and 
Wales  had  increased  upwards  of  two  millions  during  the  cen- 
tury, being,  according  to  the  best  estimates,  5,134,000  at  its 
commencement,  and  in  1770  about  7,227,000.  In  the  first 
fifty  years  of  the  century,  the  increase  of  population  amount- 
ed only  to  seventeen  per  cent.,  but  in  the  twenty  years  ending 
1770,  the  rate  of  acceleration  was  more  than  doubled,  being 
nineteen  per  cent. 

Before  passing  to  the  next  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  corn- 
trade,  we  shall  notice  the  alterations  which  took  place  in  the 
mode  of  ascertaining  the  average  prices  of  corn  and  grain. 
Several  acts  for  this  purpose  were  made ;  in  one  of  which, 
passed  in  1729,  the  preamble  states  that  the  justices  of  the 
peace  had  "  neglected  to  settle  the  price  of  corn  at  their  quar- 
ter-sessions after  Michaelmas  last,  and  to  return  certificates 
thereof  to  the  chief  officer  and  collector  of  the  customs  re- 
siding in  the  respective  ports  where  the  said  corn  or  grain  has 
been  or  may  be  imported  ;  by  means  whereof  the  said  officers 
were  at  a  loss  how  to  charge  the  customs  and  duty  due  for 
such  corn  ;  which  has  been,  and  may  be,  a  great  loss  to  the 
revenue,  and  a  detriment  to  the  farmers  and  fair  traders." 

*  Arthur  Young's  "  Political  Arithmetic,''  1774. 


BRITISH   CORN-LAWS.  147 

To  remedy  the  negligence  of  the  gentry,  the  collectors  of 
customs  were  empowered  to  settle  the  averages. 

In  1732,  an  attempt  was  again  made  "  for  the  better  as- 
certaining the  common  prices  of  middling  English  corn  and 
grain,  and  for  preventing  the  fraudulent  importation  of  corn 
and  grain."  After  1st  June,  1732,  the  justices  of  the  peace, 
in  counties  which  contained  ports  of  importation,  were  to 
charge  the  grand  jury  at  quarter-sessions  to  make  inquiry 
and  presentment  upon  oath  of  the  common  market-prices, 
which  were  to  be  certified  to  the  officers  at  the  ports  speci- 
fied. The  averages  were,  however,  only  to  be  taken  four 
times  a-year. 

In  1766,  the  authorities  of  the  city  of  London  were  em- 
powered to  settle  the  price  of  middling  English  corn  and 
grain,  in  January  and  July,  in  addition  to  the  former  periods 
of  April  and  October. 

It  was  not  until  1770  that  returns  of  prices  were  directed 
to  be  made  weekly.  In  that  year  an  act  was  passed,  on  the 
ground  that  a  "  register  of  the  prices  at  which  corn  is  sold 
in  the  several  counties  of  Great  Britain  will  be  of  public  and 
general  advantage."  The  justices  of  the  peace  were  to  order 
returns  to  be  made  weekly  of  the  prices  of  British  corn  and 
grain,  from  such  towns  in  each  county  as  they  thought 
proper ;  the  number  of  towns  selected  in  each  county  not 
being  more  than  six,  nor  less  than  two.  The  treasury  was 
to  appoint  a  receiver  of  corn  returns,  who  was  to  publish  an 
abstract  of  the  weekly  returns  in  the-'"  London  Gazette,"  and 
four  times  a-year  certify  to  the  clerks  of  the  peace  the  prices 
which  were  respectively  prevalent  in  each  county.  The 
publication  of  the  averages  weekly  was  a  most  beneficial  in- 
novation. 

In  1772,  an  important  act*  was  passed  relating  to  the  in- 
ternal corn-trade,  and  several  ancient  restrictions  in  old  stat- 

*  12  Geo.  HI.  c.  71. 


148  HISTORY  OF   THE 

utes  were  removed,  on  the  ground  that,  "  by  preventing  a  free 
trade  in  the  said  commodities,  [corn,  flour,  cattle,  &c.,]  they 
have  a  tendency  to  discourage  the  growth  and  enhance  the 
price  of  the  same,  which  statutes,  put  into  execution,  would 
bring  great  distress  on  the  inhabitants  of  many  parts  of  the 
kingdom." 


BRITISH   CORN-LAWS.  149 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THIRD    PERIOD. FROM    1773    TO    1791. 

The  corn  act  of  1773 — Its  influence  on  tillage,  navigation,  &c. — Number  of 
acres  then  under  cultivation — The  landed  interests  dependent  uponforeign 
supplies— Dissatisfaction  consequent  on  this — Average  prices  of  corn  at 
this  period — Regulations  of  the  London  Corn  Exchange — New  regula- 
tions of  1788-89,  respecting  the  maritime  districts,  &c. 

IN  the  preamble  of  the  Corn  Act  of  1773,*  it  is  acknow- 
ledged that  previous  laws  had  greatly  tended  to  the  advance- 
ment of  tillage  and  navigation.  It  added  that,  on  account 
of  the  small  supplies  on  hand,  and  scanty  crops,  it  had  been 
frequently  necessary  to  suspend  the  operation  of  the  laws  ; 
and  that  a  permanent  law  on  the  corn-trade  "  would  afford 
encouragement  to  the  farmer,  be  the  means  of  increasing  the 
growth  of  that  necessary  commodity,  and  of  affording  a 
cheaper  and  more  constant  supply  to  the  poor."  And  the 
act  then  fixes  the  following  scale  of  duties,  to  come  into  op- 
eration on  the  1st  of  January,  1774  : — Whenever  the  price 
of  middling  British  wheat,  at  ports  of  importation,  was  at  or 
above  48s.  per  quarter,  a  duty  of  only  6d.  per  quarter  was 
to  be  taken  on  all  foreign  wheat  imported  during  the  contin- 
uance of  that  price.  When  the  price  was  at  or  above  44*., 
exportation  and  the  bounty  together  were  to  cease ;  and  the 
carrying  of  British  grain  coastwise  ceased  also.  Under  this 
act,  corn  and  grain  might  be  shipped  to  Ireland  when  export- 
ation was  prohibited  from  that  country.  Foreign  corn,  ware- 
housed under  bond  in  twenty-five  ports  of  Great  Britain  men- 
tioned in  the  act,  might  be  re-exported  duty  free.  Adam 
Smith's  opinion  of  this  act  was,  that,  "  though  not  the  best 
in  itself,  it  is  the  best  which  the  interests,  prejudices,  and 

*  13  Geo.  ffl.  c.  43. 
13* 


150  HISTORY   OF    THE 

temper  of  the  times  would  admit  of:  it  may  perhaps,  (he 
adds,)  in  due  time  prepare  the  way  for  a  better."*  This  ex- 
pectation has  not  as  yet  been  fulfilled. 

The  home  market  was  now  opened  to  foreign  supplies  of 
corn  under  much  more  advantageous  terms  than  before.  Im- 
portation was  constant  and  considerable,  and  prices  were 
steadier  on  the  whole,  during  the  eighteen  years  from  1775 
to  1792 — notwithstanding  the  occurrence  of  five  seasons  in 
which  the  harvests  were  more  or  less  deficient — than  they 
had  been  in  the  ten  years  preceding  1773.  The  balance  of 
imports  of  wheat  was  now  decidedly  against  this  country. 
In  the  ten  years  ending  1769,  the  excess  of  exports  had 
amounted  to  1,384,561  quarters;  but  in  the  next  ten  years, 
ending  1779,  the  excess  was  on  the  side  of  the  imports  to  the  ex- 
tent of  431,566  quarters  ;  and  in  the  ten  years  ending  1789, 
there  was  an  excess  on  the  same  side  amounting  to  233,502 
quarters.  The  extension  of  tillage  which  took  place  was 
certainly  more  likely  to  be  permanent,  than  when  it  had  been 
caused  by  the  artificial  stimulus  that  had  previously  been 
maintained.  From  1760  to  1780,  the  number  of  acres  en- 
closed under  local  acts  was  1,912,350  ;  in  the  ten  years  end- 
ing 1789,  the  proportion  had  fallen  off,  the  number  of  acres 
enclosed  being  450,180.  The  average  price  of  wheat  was 
45*.  the  quarter  in  the  ten  years  ending  1779,  and  45s.  9d. 
in  the  ten  years  ending  1789.  The  extension  of  cultivation 
in  the  twenty  years  from  1760  to  1780,  together  with  the 
improvement  of  agriculture,  sufficed  for  the  increased  de- 
mands of  the  country,  without  breaking  up  so  much  fresh 
land. 

The  landed  interest,  however,  alleged  that  the  act  of  1773 
had  rendered  England  dependent  upon  other  countries  for 
the  supply  of  corn.  The  bounty  by  which  the  corn-growers 
had  formerly  profited,  and  which  they  were  led  to  anticipate 

*  Wealth  of  Nations,  book  iv.  chap.  5. 


BRITISH    CORN-LAWS.  151 

would  still  be  secured  to  them,  had  never  come  into  opera- 
lion  under  this  act ;  and  hence  a  general  dissatisfaction  pre- 
vailed amongst  them  against  the  existing  corn-law,  which 
they  had  sufficient  interest  in  the  legislature  to  get  altered  in 
1791. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  present  period,  the  average 
prices  of  corn  were  struck  four  times  a-year,  at  the  quarter- 
sessions,  and  they  could  not  be  altered  between  the  interval 
of  one  quarter-session  and  another.  In  1774,  however,  an 
act  was  passed,*  and  came  into  operation  on  the  1st  of  June, 
by  which  exportation  was  regulated  by  the  price  on  the 
market-day  preceding  the  shipment ;  thus  adopting  the  real 
average  price  at  the  time,  instead  of  acting  upon  the  average 
which  existed  three  months  before. 

Six  years  afterward,  in  the  session  1780— I,")"  it  was  enacted 
that  the  prices  of  English  corn  for  the  port  of  London,  and 
the  ports  of  Kent  and  Essex,  should  be  determined  by  the  av- 
erages taken  at  the  London  Corn  Exchange.  The  weekly 
average  was  to  regulate  the  exportation  ;  but  the  importation 
of  foreign  corn  and  grain  was  regulated  by  averages  struck 
only  once  a  quarter. 

In  the  session  of  1788-9,  new  regulations  were  framed,^: 
applying  to  all  parts  of  the  kingdom,  which  was  divided  into 
twelve  districts,  and  in  each  a  number  of  the  principal  market- 
towns  was  selected,  in  which,  and  at  the  seaports,  the  price 
of  corn  was  to  be  ascertained  for  each  district.  Weekly  re- 
turns were  to  be  made  to  the  receiver  in  London,  who,  on 
the  1st  of  February,  May,  August,  and  November,  was  to 
compute  from  the  returns  of  the  six  preceding  weeks  the  av- 
erage price  of  each  description  of  British  corn  and  grain, 
(with  the  exception  of  oats,  the  averages  of  which  were  to 
be  computed  on  the  returns  of  the  twelve  preceding  weeks.) 
The  aggregate  average  of  the  six  weeks  (and  for  oats  of  the 

*  14  Geo.  III.  c.  64.          f  21  Geo.  III.  c.  50.         $29  Geo.  HI.  c.  58. 


152  HISTORY   OF  THE 

twelve  weeks)  to  be  transmitted  to  the  principal  officer  of  the 
customs  in  each  district,  and  to  regulate  the  importation  at 
each  port  of  the  said  district.  The  export  trade  was  still 
regulated  by  the  weekly  averages.  Under  this  act,  each  of 
the  twelve  maritime  districts  was  treated  as  distinct  in  itself, 
and  counties  on  one  side  of  the  kingdom  might  be  exporting 
their  surplus  produce  to  a  foreign  market,  while  those  on  the 
other  side  were  under  the  necessity  of  importing. 


BRITISH    CORN-LAWS.  153 

CHAPTER   V. 

FOURTH  PERIOD. FROM  1791  TO  1804. 

New  scale  of  importation  duties  of  1791— Excess  of  importation,  during  the 
thirteen  subsequent  years,  in  England — Sacrifices  induced  by  this — Scar- 
city of  grain,  and  its  consequences — Seizure  of  neutral  vessels  laden  with 
corn — Parliamentary  measures  for  economizing  the  consumption  of 
wheat — The  hair-powder  tax  imposed — Severe  distress  of  the  times — 
High  prices — Increased  scarcity — Further  measures  by  the  British  House 
of  Commons — Lord  Hawkesbury's  bill  in  1800 — New  public  projects  to 
relieve  the  public  distress — Increased  high  prices — The  alloyance  system — 
Riots,  and  great  distress  of  the  lower  classes — Agricultural  wages  at  this 
period — Comparative  estimates  of  wages  and  provisions — Adam  Smith's 
remarks  on  this  subject — Remarks  of  Mr.  Milne — Prosperity  of  the  land- 
lords at  this  time  of  dearth — Injurious  results  to  trade  of  the  act  of 
Charles  II.,  &c 

THE  new  corn-law  of  1791  was  founded  upon  stricter  prin- 
ciples than  that  of  1773.  It  enacted  that  after  November 
15,  1791,  the  bounty  of  5s.  per  quarter  should  be  paid  when 
wheat  was  under  44s.,  arid  that,  when  wheat  was  at  or  above 
46*.,  exportation  was  to  cease.  The  new  scale  of  import 
duties  was  as  follows : — For  wheat  under  50s.  per  quarter, 
the  "  high  duty"  of  24*.  3d.  was  payable  ;  at  50*.,  but  under 
54*.,  the  "  first  low  duty"  of  2*.  6d. ;  at  or  above  54*.,  the 
"  second  low  duty"  of  6d.  was  payable.  The  protecting 
price  was  thus  raised  from  48*.  to  54*.  the  quarter ;  and  this 
main  feature  of  the  act  was  intended  to  shut  out  supplies 
from  abroad,  and  of  course  to  raise  prices  at  home.  The 
duty  of  24*.  3<Z.,  so  long  as  the  price  of  wheat  was  under 
50*.  the  quarter,  was  equivalent  to  a  prohibition. 

The  thirteen  years  from  1791  to  1804  form  a  very  event- 
ful period  in  the  history  of  the  Corn  Laws.  Under  the  com- 
paratively free  system  established  by  the  Corn  Act  of  1773, 
the  excess  of  imports  had  been  comparatively  trifling ;  but 
under  an  act  expressly  constructed  to  prevent  importation  as 


154  HISTORY    OF    THE 

far  as  possible,  the  excess  of  imports  in  the  thirteen  years 
from  1791  to  1803,  amounted  to  6,458,901  quarters  of  wheat 
and  wheat-flour,  and  enormous  sacrifices  were  made  to  ob- 
tain this  quantity.  The  seasons  in  their  courses  fought 
against  the  enactments  of  the  Legislature  ;  and  the  depen- 
dence on  foreign  supplies  was  never  so  complete  as  at  the 
very  period  when  hopes  had  been  entertained  that  the  produce 
of  the  home-grower  would  prove  sufficiently  ample  for  the 
wants  of  the  country. 

The  effects  of  the  different  years  of  scarcity,  just  at  the 
close  of  the  last  and  the  commencement  of  the  present  cen- 
tury, cannot  be  passed  over  without  a  cursory  notice.  The 
harvest  of  1793  had  been  below  an  average,  and  those  of 
the  two  following  years  were  decidedly  deficient.  The  av- 
erage price  of  wheat  rose  from  55*.  Id.,  in  January,  1795, 
to  108s.  4d.,  in  August.  Parliament  met  in  October,  when 
the  king's  speech  alluded  to  the  "  very  high  price  of  grain" 
as  a  subject  of  "  the  greatest  anxiety."  In  the  following 
month,  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  moved  for  the  ap- 
pointment of  a  select  committee  to  inquire  into  the  circum- 
stances of  the  scarcity,  and  the  means  of  removing  it.  Mo- 
nopoly, forestalling,  and  regrating,  were  alleged  to  be  among 
the  causes  of  the  dearth ;  and  Lord  Kenyon,  at  the  Salop 
assizes,  threatened  to  inflict  the  "  full  vengeance  of  the  law," 
upon  those  parties  who  should  be  found  guilty  of  these  prac- 
tices. The  deficiency  in  the  crops  was  variously  estimated 
at  from  one  fifth  to  one  seventh  ;  and  to  provide  an  adequate 
supply,  an  act  was  passed  granting  a  bounty  of  from  16s.  to 
20s.  the  quarter,  according  to  the  quality,  on  wheat  from  the 
south  of  Europe,  till  the  quantity  should  amount  to  400,000 
quarters  :  and  from  America,  till  it  should  amount  to  500,000 
quarters  ;  and  12s.  to  15s.  from  any  other  part  of  Europe, 
till  it  should  amount  to  the  same  quantity  ;  the  bounty  to  be 
8s.  and  10s.  after  that  quantity  was  exceeded.  Neutral  ves- 
sels laden  with  grain  were  forcibly  seized  on  the  high  seas, 


BRITISH   CORN-LAWS.  155 

and  the  masters  compelled  to  sell  their  cargoes  to  the  govern- 
ment agents.  The  members  of  both  houses  of  parliament 
bound  themselves  by  a  written  pledge  to  observe  the  utmost 
frugality  in  the  use  of  bread  in  their  respective  households ; 
and  engaged  to  reduce  the  consumption  of  wheat  by  at  least 
one  third  of  the  usual  quantity  consumed  in  ordinary  times, 
unless  the  average  price  of  wheat  should  be  reduced  to  8s. 
the  bushel.  The  hair- powder  tax  was  imposed  at  this  pe- 
riod, as  a  means  of  diminishing  the  consumption  of  wheat. 

The  high  price  of  wheat  produced  severe  distress.  The 
agricultural  districts  were  disturbed  by  riots,  and  that  fatal 
measure — the  allowance  system — was  introduced.  For  the 
next  two  or  three  years  the  harvests  were  more  favorable, 
until  the  disastrous  season  of  1799.  The  average  price  of 
wheat  at  the  commencement  of  that  year  was  49«.  6tZ.  the 
quarter,  but  in  December  it  had  risen  to  94s.  2d. ;  and  soon 
after  the  commencement  of  the  following  year  the  prospects 
of  scarcity  had  become  so  formidable  that  a  select  committee 
of  the  house  of  commons  was  appointed  to  investigate  the  de- 
ficiency in  the  last  crop.  In  pursuance  of  the  recommend- 
ation of  this  committee,  recourse  was  again  had  to  a  bounty  ; 
and  an  act  was  passed,  offering  to  the  importer  the  difference 
between  the  average  price  of  English  wheat  in  the  second 
week  after  importation,  and  90*.  on  wheat  from  the  south  of 
Europe,  Africa,  and  America  ;  85s.  from  the  Baltic  and  Ger- 
many ;  and  90s.  from  Archangel,  if  imported  before  the  1st 
of  October,  1800.  Lord  Hawkesbury  also  brought  in  a 
bill,  which  was  passed  through  its  various  stages  on  the  fol- 
lowing day,  prohibiting  the  sale  of  bread  until  twenty-four 
hours  after  it  had  been  baked.  Notwithstanding  these  pro- 
spective remedies,  the  average  price  of  wheat  continued  to  ad- 
vance, and  in  June,  1800,  was  134s.  5d.  the  quarter.  Con- 
siderable importations  brought  down  the  price  to  96s.  "2d.  in 
August;  but  in  December  it  again  advanced  to  133s.,  in 
consequence  of  the  deficiency  of  the  harvest  of  1800. 


156  HISTORY   OF    THE 

Parliament  was  assembled  in  November,  1800,  at.  an  ear- 
lier period  than  had  been  intended,  for  the  purpose  of  devising 
measures  to  remedy  the  severe  distress  of  the  times,  arising 
from  the  high  prices  of  provisions.  The  speech  from  the 
throne  alluded  to  the  supposition  of  combination  and  fraudu- 
lent practices  for  the  purpose  of  raising  the  price  of  grain, 
which  a  committee  of  the  house  of  lords  denied.  A  select 
committee  of  the  commons  was  again  appointed  to  take  into 
consideration  the  existing  high  prices,  and  by  the  end  of  De- 
cember this  committee  had  presented  six  reports  to  the  house, 
in  the  first  of  which  the  deficiency  of  the  crops  was  stated  to 
be  one  fourth,  and  that  the  old  supplies  were  exhausted  before 
harvest.  The  committee  suggested  a  variety  of  remedies  to 
meet  the  emergency.  Among  other  things,  they  recommend- 
ed the  encouragement  of  the  fisheries,  the  stoppage  of  the 
distilleries,  a  bounty  on  importation  ;  also  a  recommendation 
from  persons  in  authority,  pointing  out  the  necessity  of  the 
general  practice  of  economy  and  frugality  in  all  articles  of 
food ;  and  it  was  proposed  to  call  upon  the  other  house  of 
parliament  to  join  in  an  address  to  the  throne,  requesting  his 
Majesty  to  issue  a  proclamation  in  recommendation  of  this 
suggestion.  A  royal  proclamation  was  issued  accordingly, 
and  was  widely  circulated  by  the  clergy  and  magistrates 
throughout  the  kingdom.  An  act  was  also  passed,  guaran- 
teeing the  difference  between  the  average  price  of  foreign 
wheat  in  the  third  week  after  importation,  and  100s.  to  the 
importer  of  all  wheat  weighing  53lbs.  per  bushel,  if  import- 
ed within  the  time  limited  by  the  act.  The  advance  of  prices 
continued  unchecked,  in  spite  of  the  various  plans  adopted  to 
lower  them  ;  and  in  March,  1801,  wheat  averaged  1565.  2d. 
the  quarter,  or,  taking  the  imperial  measure  now  in  use,  20s. 
the  bushel ;  barley  averaged  90s.  Id.  the  quarter,  and 
oats  475.  Zd.  The  importations  of  the  year  were,  wheat 
1,424, 766  quarters;  barley  1 13,966;  oats  583,043.  For  four 
weeks,  the  quartern  loaf  in  London  was  as  high  as  is. 


BRITISH    CORN-LAWS.  157 

The  agricultural  districts  were  again  disturbed  by  riots, 
and  the  allowance  system,  introduced  as  a  mode  of  relieving 
the  distress  of  the  poorest  class,  was  becoming  firmly  estab- 
lished. They  must  otherwise  have  actually  perished  ;  and 
even  the  classes  above  them  would  have  shared  the  same  fate, 
but  for  the  rise  of  wages  and  the  contributions  of  parishes, 
and  the  aids  afforded  by  friends  and  by  private  charity.  All 
these  artificial  modes  of  adjustment  were  miserable  expedients, 
and  necessarily  fell  far  short  of  placing  those  whom  it  was 
designed  to  benefit  in  the  condition  of  comfort  which  they 
enjoyed  when  the  price  of  food  was  low  from  the  effects  of 
abundance.  The  money  wages  of  the  agricultural  laborer, 
in  order  to  have  been  equal  to  those  which  he  received  in  the 
rdgn  of  George  II.,  should  have  risen  to  about  SOs.  per 
week.  Arthur  Young  gives  a  list  of  articles  which,  when 
the  laborer  was  paid  5s.  per  week,  he  could  have  purchased 
with  that  5s..  namely,  a  bushel  of  malt,  a  bushel  of  wheat, 
a  pound  of  butter,  a  pound  of  cheese,  and  a  pennyworth  of 
tobacco  ;  and  he  states  that  in  1801  these  articles  would  have 
cost  him  26s.  5rf. ;  while  wages  having  risen  only  to  9s.,  and 
the  allowance  from  the  parish  being  estimated  at  6s.,  his  real 
wages  were  still  Us.  5rf.  less  than  under  the  former  period. 
Thus  even  the  parish  allowance,  which  equalled  two  thirds 
of  his  wages,  left  him  in  a  state  of  distress.  There  is  a  table 
in  the  Appendix  to  one  of  the  Parliamentary  Reports  on  the 
subject  of  the  high  price  of  provisions,  which  shows  thai  the 
most  indispensable  necessaries  of  life  had  risen  200  per  cent, 
in  1800  as  compared  with  1773.  Both  in  1795  and  1800 
Mr.  Whitbread  had  proposed  a  bill  for  regulating  the  wages 
of  labor  by  the  price  of  provisions,  and  fixing  a  minimum  of 
wages,  but  such  an  expedient  was  wisely  rejected.  The  rise 
of  wages,  without  which  "  ?f  ual  starvation  would  have  ensued, 
•]uate  as  it  proved,  was  better  than  such  a  plan.  Several 
trades  succeeded  in  obtaining  an  advance  ;  and  from  the 
statements  of  the  tailors  and  printers  of  London,  in  support 
14 


158  HISTORY   OF   THE 

of  their  claims,  we  take  the  following  particulars : — -The 
wages  of  the  former  class  of  workmen,  from  1777  to  1795, 
had  averaged  21s.  Qd.  per  week,  and  the  price  of  the  quartern 
loaf  being  7jd.,  they  could  purchase  thirty-six  loaves  with  a 
week's  wages.  During  the  scarcity  of  1795  their  wages  had 
been  advanced  to  255.,  and  in  1801  to  27s.,  in  which  latter 
year  a  week's  wages  would  purchase  only  181  quartern 
loaves.  The  wages  of  compositors  had  been  advanced  from 
24s.  to  27*.  in  1795,  and  to  30*.  in  1801.  The  advance  in 
the  wages  of  carpenters,  bricklayers,  masons,  and  artisans  of 
a  similar  stamp  was  inconsiderable.  The  salaries  of  persons 
holding  official  situations  under  the  government  were  also  in- 
creased. The  misery  of  the  bulk  of  the  people  during  the  years 
of  scarcity  is  shown  by  the  diminished  -umber  of  marriages, 
which,  from  79,477  in  1798,  were  reduced  to  67,288  in  1801. 
The  fallacy  that  wages  advance  with  the  price  of  food  was 
never  more  glaringly  displayed  than  at  this  period ;  and  it  is 
still  a  prevalent  notion  that  there  is  a  connection  between  high 
prices  of  provisions  and  high  wages,  though,  seventy  years 
ago,  Adam  Smith  had  shown  (and  his  doctrine  on  this  subject 
has  never  been  controverted) — 1.  That  the  real  wages  of 
labor  rise  in  a  year  of  plenty  and  diminish  in  a  season  of 
scarcity.  In  the  former,  the  funds  in  the  hands  of  the  em- 
ployers of  industry  are  sufficient  to  maintain  a  greater  num- 
ber of  industrious  people,  and,  as  masters  wanting  workmen 
bid  against  each  other,  money  wages  may  also  rise.  2.  That 
a  year  of  scarcity  and  high  prices  diminishes  the  funds  for 
the  employment  of  labor ;  persons  are  thrown  out  of  em- 
ployment who  bid  against  one  another  in  order  to  get  it ;  and 
wages  fall.  3.  That  in  the  ordinary  variations  of  the  price 
of  provisions  these  two  opposite  causes  are  counterbalanced, 
which  is  one  reason  why  the  wages  of  labor  are  more  steady 
and  permanent  than  the  price  of  provisions.*  In  the  evidence 

*  "Wealth  of  Nations,  book  i.  chap.  viii. 


BRITISH    CORN- LAWS.  159 

before  the  lords  Committee  on  the  Corn  Laws  in  1814  there 
is  a  remarkable  illustration  of  the  effect  of  the  scarcity  of 
1812  on  wages.  Mr.  Milne,  a  landowner,  stated  that  a  cer- 
tain description  of  farm  labor  which  twenty-five  years  before 
had  cost  him  3s.,  and  which  a  neighbor  of  his  had  paid  5s. 
for  two  or  three  years  before,  was  executed  during  a  period 
of  scarcity  and  high  prices  for  2s.  6d.,  the  cause  of  this  dif- 
ference being,  as  he  alleged,  "  that  a  great  many  laborers 
were  idle  from  having  little  work,  in  consequence  of  those 
employed  doing  double  work." 

There  was  one  class  to  whom  the  period  of  this  memorable 
dearth  was  a  season  of  great  prosperity,  that  is,  as  Mr.  Tooke 
states,  "  to  the  landlords,  who  were  raising,  or  had  the  pros- 
pect of  soon  raising,  their  rents  ;  and  to  the  farmers,  who 
were  realizing  enormous  gains  pending  the  currency  of  their 
leases."  Arthur  Young  estimated  the  additional  sum  re- 
ceived by  the  corn-growers  in  1795-6,  as  compared  with  the 
average  of  the  twelve  years  ending  1794,  at  19,553, 849Z., 
allowing  one  fifth  for  the  deficiency  of  the  wheat  crop.  This 
large  sum  in  the  first  instance  found  its  way  into  the  pockets 
of  the  farmers,  and  the  landlords  next  advanced  their  claims 
to  a  portion  of  the  advantage,  and  raised  their  rents. 

A  tolerably  abundant  harvest  in  1801  happily  put  an  end 
to  the  great  dearth.  In  March  the  average  price  of  wheat 
was  155«.  the  quarter  ;  in  June,  with  the  prospect  of  a  favor- 
able harvest,  it  was  129s.  8d.,  and  at  the  end  of  the  year  the 
price  had  fallen  to  75s.  6d.  In  the  two  following  years  the 
harvests,  though  not  very  abundant,  were  favorable,  and  a 
further  depression  of  prices  took  place.  At  the  close  of  1802 
the  average  price  of  wheat  was  57s.  Id.  the  quarter ;  early 
in  1803,  52s.  3d. ;  and  at  a  corresponding  period  in  1804  the 
average  price  was  as  low  as  49s.  6d.  Meetings  were  now 
held  in  the  agricultural  counties  for  the  purpose  of  petitioning 
parliament  for  additional  protection  to  agriculture,  the  act  of 


160  HISTORY    OF    THE 

1790-1,  which  had  raised  the  free  import  price*  from  48s.  to 
54«.  having  been  unsuccessful.  This  brings  us  to  the  ter- 
mination of  the  fourth  period. 

The  act  of  1790-1  consolidated,  amended,  and  repealed  a 
number  of  old  statutes  relating  to  the  corn-trade  ;  amongst 
the  latter,  the  15  Charles  II.  c.  7,  which  prohibited  buying 
corn  to  sell  again,  and  laying  up  corn  in  warehouses.  It 
also  permitted  foreign  corn  and  grain  to  be  bonded  in  the 
king's  warehouses,  the  duty  to  be  payable  only  when  taken 
out  for  home  consumption.  The  object  of  this  beneficial 
clause  is  stated  as  follows : — "  To  promote  and  extend  the 
commerce  of  the  merchants  of  this  kingdom  in  foreign  corn, 
and  to  provide  stores  which  may  always  be  ready  for  the  re- 
lief of  his  Majesty's  subjects  in  times  of  dearth." 

Many  of  the  provisions  of  the  act,  however,  interfered  with 
trade  to  a  vexatious  and  injurious  extent.  When  foreign  ex- 
portation was  not  allowed  at  any  particular  port,  not  even 
home  produce  could  be  carried  thence  coastwise,  even  to  a 
port  at  which  exportation  was  at  the  time  taking  place. 
Foreign  vessels  might  however  change  their  destination  to 
any  port  where  importation  was  permitted,  if,  on  their  arrival 
at  that  for  which  their  cargo  had  been  shipped,  importation  had 
ceased  to  be  allowed.  The  country  was  still  divided  into  so 
many  independent  sections,  and  this  regulation  was  introduced 
into  Scotland,  which  was  divided  into  four  districts.  For  the 
purpose  of  exportation,  the  weekly  averages  of  each  district 
were  cited,  and,  for  importation,  the  average  of  the  six  weeks 
preceding  the  15th  of  February,  May,  August,  and  Novem- 
ber. Thus  the  one  varied  from  week  to  week,  and  the  latter 
was  only  changed  four  times  a-year. 

*  There  was  a  nominal  duty  of  6d. 


BRITISH    CORX-LAWS.  161 

CHAPTER   VI. 

FIFTH    PERIOD. FROM    1804    TO    1815. 

Amendments  to  the  act  of  1791,  in  1804 — Report  of  the  committee — New 
importation  rules — Increased  value  of  wheat — Its  consequences — Inju- 
rious effects  of  the  war — Prohibitory  enactments  and  decrees  with  respect 
to  America,  Berlin,  &c. — Supplies  from  France  and  the  Netherlands — 
High  prices  of  the  home  markets — Increased  taxation — Strike  of  the 
working-classes  in  1812 — Renewed  riots — Subsequent  reduction  in  prices 
— Reconsideration  of  the  corn  laws — Act  permitting  free  interchange  of 
corn  between  Ireland  and  England  in  1806 — 

ON  the  13th  of  April,  1804,  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exche- 
quer moved  for  the  appointment  of  a  select  committee  to  in- 
quire into  the  principle  and  operation  of  the  Corn  Regulation 
Act  of  1791,  and  to  determine  whether  the  scale  which  it 
fixed  for  the  regulation  of  imports  and  exports  was  now  ap- 
plicable. On  the  14th  of  the  ensuing  month  the  committee 
presented  their  report,  in  which  they  stated  that  the  act  al- 
luded to  required  "  very  material  alteration."  On  the  14th 
of  June  the  committee  presented  a  second  report,  in  which 
their  convictions  as  to  the  necessity  of  some  new  legislative 
measure  on  the  trade  in  corn  are  thus  stated : — "  It  appears 
to  your  committee  that  the  price  of  corn  from  1791  to  the 
harvest  of  1803  has  been  very  irregular ;  but,  upon  an 
average,  increased  in  a  great  degree  by  the  years  of  scarcity, 
has  in  general  yielded  a  fair  profit  to  the  grower.  The  casual 
high  prices,  however,  have  had  the  effect  of  stimulating  in- 
dustry, and  bringing  into  culture  large  tracts  of  waste  land, 
which,  combined  with  the  two  last  productive  seasons,  has 
occasioned  such  a  depression  in  the  value  of  grain  as  it  is 
feared  will  greatly  tend  to  the  discouragement  of  agriculture, 
unless  maintained  by  the  support  of  parliament."  The 
committee  founded  their  recommendations  for  protection  on 
"  a  comparative  view  of  the  price  of  labor,  and  of  the  una- 
14* 


162  HISTORY   OF    THE 

voidable  expenses  incident  to  the  farmer  in  the  year  1791, 
and  to  the  farmer  at  the  present  time."  Their  views  pre- 
vailed also  in  the  legislature,  where  a  bill  to  give  effect  to 
them  was  introduced  on  the  20th  of  June. 

The  scale  for  the  admission  of  foreign  corn  established  by 
the  act  of  1804  was  as  follows  : — Wheat  under  63s.  per 
quarter,  the  "  high  duty"  of  24s.  3d.  payable  ;  at  63s.  and 
under  66s.  the  "  first  low  duty  ;"  and  at  or  above  66s.,  the 
"  second  low  duty,"  which  amounted  only  to  6d.  The  free 
import  or  nominal  duty  price  was  thus  raised  from  54s.,  at 
which  it  stood  in  the  act  of  1790-1,  to  66s. — an  increase  of 
12s.  The  bounty  of  5s.  on  exportation  was  to  be  paid  when 
the  average  price  of  wheat  was  at  or  under  48s. ;  and  when 
the  average  rose  to  54s.  exportation  to  be  prohibited.  The 
two  latter  enactments  proved  totally  inoperative. 

Immediately  after  the  passing  of  this  act  the  price  of  wheat 
and  other  grain  rose,  a  circumstance  which  was  at  first  at- 
tributed by  many  to  that  measure.  Between  March  and 
December  the  average  price  had  increased  from  49s.  6d.  the 
quarter  to  86s.  2d. ;  and  in  the  spring  of  the  following  year 
petitions  were  presented  to  parliament  expressing  dissatisfac- 
tion with  the  new  act  on  account  of  its  alleged  operation  on 
prices.  The  crops  in  1804,  however,  proved  very  deficient, 
and  it  is  therefore  more  correct  to  attribute  the  rise  to  this 
cause.  In  the  three  following  seasons  the  harvests  were  not 
abundant,  arid  in  the  five  years  from  1808  to  1812  they  were 
very  deficient.  In  the  month  of  August,  in  the  latter  year, 
the  average  prices  were — for  wheat  155s.,  barley  79s.  Wd., 
and  oats  56s.  2rf. ;  and  Mr.  Tooke  says*  that  in  Mark-lane 
the  finest  Dantzic  wheat  fetched  180s.,  and  oats  in  one  or  two 
instances  were  sold  at  the  enormous  price  of  84s.  the  quarter. 

Coincident  with  the  unfavorable  seasons  during  this  period 
there  was  the  effect  of  the  great  war  in  which  we  were  then 

*  Hist,  of  Prices,  i.  323. 


BRITISH    CORN-LAWS.  163 

engaged,  which  in  various  ways  increased  the  cost  of  produc- 
tion, and  by  impeding  commercial  intercourse  rendered  it 
difficult  and  expensive  to  obtain  supplies  from  abroad  at  a  time 
when  our  own  harvests  were  inadequate.  These  obstacles 
were  at  one  time  so  serious  from  the  effect  of  the  Berlin  and 
Milan  Decrees  and  the  American  Non-intercouse  Act,  as  to 
threaten  us  with  total  exclusion  from  the  continental  ports. 
But,  notwithstanding  the  anti-commercial  spirit  which  the  war 
had  assumed,  and  at  a  period  when  this  influence  was  relied 
upon  as  a  most  powerful  means  of  distressing  this  country, 
licenses  were  granted  by  the  French  government,  in  conse- 
quence of  which  about  400,000  quarters  of  wheat,  besides 
other  grain,  were  imported  to  supply  the  deficiency  of  the 
harvest  of  1809  in  this  country.  The  harvest,  both  in  France 
and  the  Netherlands,  had  been  very  abundant,  and  the  export 
of  a  part  of  their  surplus  produce  was  a  great  relief  to  the 
corn-growers  of  those  countries.  In  1810,  we  imported 
1,500,000  quarters  of  wheat  and  flour,  and  600,000  quarters 
of  other  grain  and  meal.  The  expenses  of  freight,  insurance, 
and  licenses,  amounted  to  from  30s.  to  50*.  per  quarter  on 
wheat.  From  1809  to  1812  the  freight  and  insurance  on 
wheat  from  the  Baltic  was  505.  the  quarter.  Prices  neces- 
sarily rose  to  a  great  height  in  the  home  market  before  the 
obstacles  to  commercial  intercourse  arising  from  the  war  could 
be  overcome,  and  an  average  price  of  80s.  the  quarter  for 
wheat  was  at  times  insufficient  to  lead  to  any  considerable 
importation.  The  enormous  charges  on  importation  were  of 
course  added  to  the  natural  price  of  British  corn  ;  and  thus 
we  have  easily  explained  the  cause  of  the  "  war  prices"  of 
this  memorable  period  and  of  the  extraordinary  profits  of 
farmers  and  landowners. 

The  high  prices  stimulated  cultivation,  and  from  1804  to 
1814  inclusively  the  number  of  enclosure  bills  which  re- 
ceived the  royal  assent  was  1084,  being  considerably  more 
than  for  any  other  corresponding  period.  The  state  of  the 


164  HISTORY   OF    THE 

agricultural  interest  at  this  time  has  been,  impartially  de- 
scribed by  Mr.  Tooke  : — A  great  amount  of  gain  had  been 
distributed  among  the  agricultural  classes ;  and  as  the  range 
of  high  prices  (with  an  interval  of  depression  between  the 
harvests  of  1810  and  1811,  so  short  as  not  to  have  been  felt 
at  all  by  the  landlord,  and  very  little  by  the  farmer)  had  been 
of  an  unusually  long  continuance,  it  was  concluded  that  the 
causes  of  that  high  range  were  permanent.  From  1809  to 
1813  was  accordingly  the  period  in  which  rents  experienced 
their  greatest  rise, — that  is,  upon  the  expiration  of  leases,  they 
were  advanced  in  full  proportion  to  the  high  range  of  the 
prices  of  produce ;  and  in  several  instances  they  were  raised 
threefold  or  upwards  of  what  they  had  been  in  1792.*  In 
an  ensuing  period  we  shall  see  the  disasters  which  the  farmers 
experienced  under  other  circumstances  in  consequence  of  the 
dangerous  state  of  artificial  prosperity  in  which  they  were 
placed  during  the  war. 

The  effect  of  another  cycle  of  bad  seasons,  to  which  is  to 
be  added  increasing  taxation,  was  not  favorable  to  the  inter- 
ests of  the  working-classes.  In  1812  and  1813  the  poor-rates 
amounted  to  about  3,300,0007.  more  than  they  had  been  in 
1803,  a  year  of  low  prices  and  agricultural  distress.  Still 
further  attempts  had  been  made  to  adjust  wages  to  the  high 
price  of  provisions,  and  the  demand  of  men  for  the  navy  and 
army  offered  a  resource  which  frequently  rendered  the  strikes 
of  workmen  for  advanced  wages  successful.  The  wages  of 
artisans  and  laborers  were  nearly  doubled,  that  is,  the  money 
value  of  their  wages  ;  but  their  real  value — the  command  of 
a  week's  earnings  over  the  necessaries  of  life — was  dimin- 
ished. The  rise  of  money  wages  had  reached  its  maximum 
in  1812.  The  workmen  employed  in  manufactures  expe- 
rienced severe  distress  during  this  period  ;  the  advance  of 
wages  was  less  in  their  case  than  that  of  any  other  class ;  in 

*  Hist,  of  Prices,  i.  323-6. 


BRITISH    CORN-LAWS.  165 

some  branches  of  manufacture  there  had  been  no  change  ;  in 
others  it  was  accompanied  by  longer  hours  of  work  ;  and  the 
stagnation  of  the  export  trade  occasioned  nearly  a  total  ces- 
sation of  employment  in  several  branches  of  manufacturing 
industry.  Many  parts  of  the  country  were  disturbed  by  riots 
in  consequence  of  the  inability  of  the  poorer  classes  to  pur- 
chase an  adequate  share  of  food  during  these  seasons  of  agri- 
cultural prosperity  and  high  prices  arising  from  defective 
harvests  and  the  other  causes  to  which  allusion  has  been  made. 

A  year  or  two  of  low  prices  of  agricultural  produce  again 
brought  to  a  close  another  period  in  the  history  of  the  Corn 
Laws.  Wheat,  which  had  been  sold  as  high  as  180s.  the 
quarter  (for  select  parcels)  in  1812,  fell  to  73s.  6d.  after  the 
abundant  harvest  of  1813  ;  and  after  that  of  1814,  which  was 
rather  favorable  than  otherwise,  the  average  price  was  re- 
duced to  53s.  Id.  the  quarter.  This  fall  in  prices  and  the 
cessation  of  hostilities  led  to  the  reconsideration  of  the  whole 
question  of  the  Corn  Law. 

During  the  present  period  an  important  change  was  made 
in  the  mode  of  striking  the  average  prices  of  corn  and  grain. 
The  twelve  maritime  districts  of  England,  and  the  four  simi- 
lar districts  of  Scotland,  ceased  to  be  regarded  as  sixteen 
separate  sections,  each  of  which  was  regulated  by  the  prices 
prevalent  within  its  separate  limits  ;  but  for  England,  the 
averages,  taken  as  before,  were  computed  for  the  whole  of  the 
twelve  districts  at  once,  and  the  average  price  obtained  from  the 
computation  regulated  importation  and  exportation  at  seaports 
situate  in  any  part  of  the  country  ;  and  for  Scotland  the  same 
plan  was  pursued.  The  six  weeks'  averages,  struck  quarterly, 
regulated  the  import  duty,  and  the  weekly  average  the  exports. 

In  1806  was  passed  "  An  Act  to  permit  the  free  Interchange 
of  every  Species  of  Grain  between  Great  Britain  and  Ire- 
land."* Ireland  had  been  previously  treated  as  a  colony, 

*  46  Geo.  III.  c.  97. 


166  HISTORY    OF    THE 

but  this  act  placed  her  on  an  equality  with  other  parts  of  the 
kingdom,  and,  for  oats,  has  rendered  Ireland  the  granary  of 
England.  In  1838  nearly  two  million  quarters  (1,948,380) 
of  oats  and  oatmeal  were  imported  into  Great  Britain  from 
Ireland,  and  the  supply  is  yearly  increasing  :  the  imports  of 
wheat  from  the  sister  kingdom  have  been  gradually  diminishing 
since  1832,  when  the  quantity  was  552,741  quarters. 


BRITISH    CORN- LAWS.  167 

CHAPTER   VII. 

SIXTH    PERIOD. FROM    1815    TO    1822. 

The  new  importation  act  of  1815 — Average  prices  of  the  previous  year — 
Popular  commotion — Appeal  to  military  force — Protest  of  the  minor- 
ity against  the  passage  of  the  bill — Restrictive  character  of  the  act — 
Regulation  of  prices,  and  their  fluctuating  character — Fresh  proposals  in 
Parliament — Huskisson's  resolutions,  (tec  — New  project  of  the  Commit- 
tee in  1821 — Plans  for  the  alleviation  of  the  agricultural  distress  in  1822 — 
Advance  of  wages — Proposition  for  an  exchequer  loan  of  £100,000,  by 
Lord  Londonderry 

THE  corn-law  of  1815  originated  in  the  desire  to  preserve, 
during  a  state  of  peace,  the  high  rents  and  prices  which  had 
existed  during  the  war.  The  war  had  been  a  period  of 
scarcity,  arising  from  various  causes,  and  the  real  effect  of 
this  measure  was  to  perpetuate  the  high  prices  and  high  rents 
by  an  artificial  scarcity.  On  the  10th  of  June,  1814,  a 
committee  of  the  house  of  lords  on  the  corn-trade  was  ap- 
pointed, which  made  a  brief  report  on  the  27th,  when  the 
committee  was  instructed  to  examine  witnesses  in  support  of 
allegations  contained  in  petitions  presented  to  the  house  on 
the  subject.  The  principal  feature  of  the  second  report  was 
the  recommendation  of  the  committee  that  so  long  as  the  av- 
erage price  of  wheat  was  under  80s.  the  ports  should  be 
completely  closed  against  supplies  from  other  countries.  The 
prohibitive  price,  suggested  by  the  agricultural  witnesses  ex- 
amined by  the  committee,  varied  from  725.  to  96s.  Out  of 
sixteen  witnesses  belonging  to  this  class,  only  four  were  in 
favor  of  the  free  importation  price  being  below  80s.  per  quar- 
ter. This  second  report  was  presented  on  the  25th  of  July; 
but  the  attempt  to  give  so  complete  a  monopoly  as  would 
have  been  established  by  carrying  out  the  recommendations 
of  the  lords'  committee  was  so  resolutely  opposed  by  the 
country,  that  the  bill  which  had  been  brought  in  for  the  pur- 


168  HJSTORY   OF    THE 

pose  was  abandoned.  An  act  was  however  passed,  repealing 
the  bounty  on  exportation,*  which  had  been  allowed  under 
various  circumstances  since  1688,  though,  from  1792,  the 
high  prices  which  prevailed  in  the  home  market  rendered 
it  inoperative.  By  the  new  act,  exportation  might  take  place 
at  any  time  without  reference  to  prevailing  prices. 

The  average  price  of  wheat  for  the  year  1814  was  about 
34s.  per  quarter  lower  than  the  average  of  the  preceding 
year,  though  the  harvest  had  not  been  an  abundant  one.  In 
the  month  of  February,  1815,  the  average  price  was  under 
60,?.,  and  before  harvest  it  might  rise  to  665.,  when  the  ports 
would  be  open,  and  prices  again  be  depressed,  and  it  was 
brought  to  a  very  low  point,  in  consequence  of  the  obstacles 
to  free  intercourse  with  the  continent  being  removed.  Early 
in  the  session  of  1815,  therefore,  a  bill  was. brought  in,  giv- 
ing effect  to  the  recommendation  of  the  committee  of  the  pre- 
vious year,  and  fixing  805.  as  the  lowest  point  at  which  im- 
portation could  take  place.  The  measure  produced  great 
excitement  throughout  the  country,  particularly  in  the  man- 
ufacturing districts  and  in  all  the  large  towns.  In  the  house 
of  commons,  at  an  early  period,  a  division  took  place  in  fa- 
vor of  72*.  being  substituted  for  80s.,  with  the  following  re- 
sult: — For  the  motion,  35;  against  it,  144;  majority,  119. 
On  the  3d  of  March,  an  attempt  was  made  to  throw  out  the 
bill : — For  the  motion,  56  ;  against  it,  218  ;  majority,  162. 
On  the  6th  of  March,  the  vicinity  of  the  house  of  commons 
was  thronged  by  an  excited  multitude,  and  several  members 
were  stopped,  some  of  them  roughly  handled,  and  they  were 
questioned  by  the  mob  as  to  the  vote  which  they  intended  to 
give.  Ultimately  the  military  were  called  out,  and,  with  the 
civil  force,  kept  the  streets  clear.  This  evening  the  gallery 
of  the  house  of  commons  was  closed.  An  attempt  was  made 
to  render  the  bill  more  favorable  by  substituting  74*.  instead 

*  54  Geo.  III.  c.  69, 


BRITISH    CORN-LAWS.  169 

of  80s.  as  tne  pivot  price ;  and  the  motion  was  supported  by 
77  against  208,  being  a  majority  of  131.  On  the  8th  of 
May,  on  bringing  up  the  report,  an  amendment  was  moved, 
that  the  bill  be  read  that  day  six  months,  when  there  voted  50 
in  its  favor,  and  168  against  it;  majority  118.  A  final  at- 
tempt was  made  to  substitute  a  lower  rate  than  80.y.,  leaving 
it  to  the  house  to  determine  the  exact  price  at  which  prohi- 
bition ceased  ;  but  only  78  voted  for  the  motion,  and  184  in 
favor  of  the  measure  as  originally  proposed.  On  the  10th 
of  March,  on  the  third  reading,  an  amendment  was  moved 
that  the  bill  be  thrown  out,  but  it  was  only  supported  by  77 
against  245  ;  majority  168.  On  the  20th  of  March,  the  bill 
passed  the  lords  by  a  majority  of  107 : — 128  contents,  and 
21  non-contents.  The  measure  was  opposed  with  great  force 
and  acuteness  by  several  of  the  most  eminent  statesmen  of 
the  day  ;  and  Lord  Grenville  drew  up  a  protest,  embodying 
the  views  of  the  leaders  of  the  minority.  We  give  a  copy 
of  this  historical  document : — 

"  PROTEST. 

"  1.  Because  we  are  adverse  in  principle  to  all  new  re- 
straints on  commerce.  We  think  it  certain  that  public  pros- 
perity is  best  promoted  by  leaving  uncontrolled  the  free  cur- 
rent of  national  industry  ;  and  we  wish,  rather,  by  well- 
considered  steps,  to  bring  back  our  commercial  legislation  to 
the  straight  and  simple  line  of  wisdom,  than  to  increase  the 
deviation,  by  subjecting  additional  aud  extensive  branches  of 
the  public  interest  to  fresh  systems  of  artificial  and  injurious 
restriction. 

"  2.  Because  we  think  that  the  great  practical  rule  of 
leaving  our  commerce  unfettered  applies  more  peculiarly, 
and  on  still  stronger  grounds  of  justice,  as  well  as  of  policy, 
to  the  corn-trade,  than  to  any  other.  Irresistible,  indeed, 
must  be  the  necessity  which  could,  in  our  judgment,  autho- 
rize the  legislature  to  tamper  with' the  sustenance  of  the  peo- 

15 


170  HISTORY    OF    THE 

pie.  and  to  impede  the  free  purchase  and  sale  of  that  article 
on  which  depends  the  existence  of  so  large  a  portion  of  the 
community. 

"  3.  Because  we  think  that  the  expectations  of  ultimate 
benefit  from  this  measure  are  founded  on  a  delusive  theory. 
We  cannot  persuade  ourselves  that  this  law  will  ever  con- 
tribute to  produce  plenty,  cheapness,  or  steadiness  of  price. 
So  long  as  it  operates  at  all,  its  effects  must  be  the  opposite 
of  these.  Monopoly  is  the  parent  of  scarcity,  of  dearness, 
and  of  uncertainty.  To  cutoff  any  of  the  sources  of  supply 
can  only  tend  to  lessen  its  abundance ;  to  close  against  our- 
selves the  cheapest  market  for  any  commodity,  must  enhance 
the  price  at  which  we  purchase  it ;  and  to  confine  the  con- 
sumer of  corn  to  the  produce  of  his  own  country,  is  to  refuse 
to  ourselves  the  benefit  of  that  provision  which  Providence  it- 
self has  mads  for  equallizing  to  man  the  variations  of  season 
and  of  climate. 

"  4.  But,  whatever  may  be  the  future  consequences  of  this 
law,  at  some  distant  and  uncertain  period,  we  see,  with  pain, 
that  those  hopes  must  be  purchased  at  the  expense  of  a  great 
and  present  evil.  To  compel  the  consumer  to  purchase  corn 
dearer  at  home  than  it  might  be  imported  from  abroad,  is  the 
immediate  practical  effect  of  this  law.  In  this  way  alone 
can  it  operate.  Its  present  protection,  its  promised  extension 
of  agriculture,  must  result  (if  at  all)  from  the  profits  which 
it  creates  by  keeping  up  the  price  of  corn  to  an  artificial 
level.  These  future  benefits  are  the  consequences  expected, 
but,  as  we  confidently  believe,  erroneously  expected,  from 
giving  a  bounty  to  the  grower  of  corn,  by  a  tax  levied  on  its 
consumer. 

"  5.  Because  we  think  that  the  adoption  of  any  permanent 
law  for  such  a  purpose  required  the  fullest  and  most  labori- 
ous investigation.  Nor  would  it  have  been  sufficient  for  our 
satisfaction  could  we  have  been  convinced  of  the  general  pol- 
icy of  so  hazardous  an  experiment.  A  still  further  inquiry 


BRITISH   CORN-LAWS.  171 

would  have  been  necessary  to  persuade  us  that  the  present 
moment  was  fit  for  its  adoption.  In  such  an  inquiry  we  must 
have  had  the  means  of  satisfying  ourselves  what  its  im- 
mediate operation  will  be,  as  connected  with  the  various  and 
pressing  circumstances  of  public  difficulty  and  distress  with 
which  the  country  is  now  surrounded  ;  with  the  state  of  cir- 
culation and  currency ;  of  our  agriculture  and  manufactures ; 
of  our  internal  and  external  commerce  ;  and,  above  all,  with 
the  condition  and  reward  of  the  industrious  laboring  classes 
of  our  community.  On  all  these  particulars,  as  they  respect 
this  question,  we  think  that  parliament  is  almost  wholly 
uninformed  ;  on  all,  we  see  reason  for  the  utmost  anxiety 
and  alarm  from  the  operation  of  this  law. 

"  Lastly.  Because,  if  we  could  approve  of  the  principle 
and  purpose  of  this  law,  we  think  that  no  sufficient  foundation 
has  been  laid  for  its  details.  The  evidence  before  us,  unsat- 
isfactory and  imperfect  as  it  is,  seems  to  us  rather  to  disprove 
than  to  support  the  propriety  of  the  high  price  adopted  as  the 
standard  of  importation,  and  the  fallacious  mode  by  which  that 
price  is  to  be  ascertained. 

"  And  on  all  these  grounds  we  are  anxious  to  record  our 
dissent  from  a  measure  so  precipitate  in  its  course,  and,  as 
we  fear,  so  injurious  in  its  consequences. 

"  AUGUSTUS  FREDERICK     "  TORRINGTON, 

(Duke  of  Sussex,)  BUTTON  (Marquis  of  Douglas,) 

WILLIAM  FREDERICK  CHANDOS  BUCKINGHAM, 

(Duke  of  Gloucester,)    MONTFORT, 

GRENVILLE,  KING, 

WELLESLEY,  CARLISLE." 
ESSEX, 

On  the  23d  of  March  the  bill  received  the  royal  assent. 

Until  the  average  price  of  wheat  rose  to  80^.  the  ports  were 
to  be  effectually  closed.  Colonial  wheat  was  admitted  when 
the  average  prices  reached  67s.  per  quarter.  Such  was  the 


172  HISTORY  OF   THE 

leading  feature  of  the  new  act.*  But  the  mode  in  which  the 
average  prices  were  determined  greatly  increased  its  strin- 
gency. A  new  average  was  to  be  struck  quarterly,  on  the 
15th  of  February,  May,  August,  and  November,  from  the 
aggregate  prices  of  the  six  preceding  weeks;  but  it  was  pro- 
vided that,  if  during  the  six  weeks  subsequent  to  any  of  these 
dates  the  average  prices,  which  might  be  at  80s.,  fell  below 
that  price,  no  supplies  should  be  admitted  for  home  consump- 
tion from  any  ports  between  the  rivers  Eyder  and  the  Bidas- 
soa, — that  is,  from  Denmark  to  Spain. 

It  was  the  general  expectation  of  the  farmers  that  the  act 
of  1815  would  maintain  the  prices  of  their  produce  at  a  rate 
somewhat  under  that  of  the  scale  which  the  legislature  had 
adopted ;  and  which,  for  wheat,  was  80s. ;  barley  40*.  ;  oats 
275.  ;  and  rye,  beans,  and  peas,  53s.  They  entered  into 
contracts  with  their  landlords  and  others  with  this  conviction. 
But,  as  in  every  measure  passed  since  1773  prices  had  risen 
above  the  scale  which  had  been  fixed  as  the  prohibitive  rate, 
it  happened  that  they  now  sunk  below  it  to  an  extent  which 
they  had  not  anticipated.  In  1816,  1817,  and  1818,  three 
deficient  harvests  occurred,  that  of  the  former  year  being 
below  an  average  crop  to  a  greater  extent  than  in  any  year 
since  the  periods  of  scarcity  at  the  close  of  the  last  century. 
Prices  rose  above  the  rate  at  which  foreign  supplies  were  ad- 
mitted, and  in  1817  and  1818  above  2,600,000  quarters  of 
wheat  were  imported.  In  1821  and  1822  the  agriculturists 
endured  the  severest  season  of  distress  which  had  been  ex- 
perienced by  that  body  in  modern  times,  and  the  engagements 
which  they'had  been  induced  to  make  under  the  fallacious 
hopes  excited  by  the  last  Corn  Act  and  the  range  of  high 
prices  during  the  war  occasioned  them  to  be  swept  from  the 
land  by  thousands.  In  the  week  ending  December  21st, 
1822,  the  average  prices  of  corn  and  grain  were  as  follow : — 

55  Geo.  in.  c.  26. 


BRITISH    CORN-LAWS.  173 

Wheat.          Barley.          Oats.          Rye.          Beans.         Peas. 
s.      d.  s.      d.          a.      d.         s.      d.          s.      d.        s.      d. 

38    8         29    4       18    9       23    6       28    10     29     4 
Being  41    4         10    8         8    3       29    6       24      2     23     8 

lower  than  the  scale  which  was  framed  for  the  farmer's  pro- 
tection. The  harvest  of  1820  was  estimated  as  one  fourth 
above  an  average  crop,  and  by  some,  who  included  the  ex- 
tended  breadth  of  wheat  under  cultivation  in  consequence  of 
the  high  prices  of  1816-17-18,  the  surplus  was  computed  at 
about  one  third  above  the  average, — that  is,  there  was  a  sur- 
plus of  between  3  and  4  million  quarters  of  wheat,  for  which 
there  was  no  demand.  The  crop  of  1824  was  large,  but  of 
inferior  quality;  that  of  1822  was  above  an  average,  and 
the  harvest  was  unusually  early.  The  cause  of  the  great 
fall  of  prices  and  of  its  distressing  effects  on  the  farmers  was 
sufficiently  obvious.  They  were  under  leases  and  rents 
founded  upon  an  extraordinary  conjuncture  of  bad  seasons 
with  a  state  of  war,  and  were  buoyed  up  by  an  act  which 
promised  to  exclude  supplies  of  foreign  grain. 

The  fluctuations  in  price  under  the  corn-law  of  1815  were 
as  extraordinary  as  they  were  unexpected  by  the  landed  in- 
terests, and  amounted  to  199^  per  cent. 

The  cry  of  agricultural  distress  was  now  heard  from  every 
part  of  the  country,  and  never  ceased  to  ring  in  the  ears  of 
the  legislature  during  the  years  1820-1-2.  Committees  of 
the  house  of  commons  were  appointed  to  inquire  into  the 
condition  of  agriculture  in  the  two  latter  years,  and  numerous 
plans  were  conceived  for  the  relief  of  the  agricultural  class. 
In  parliament  Sir  Thomas  Lethbridge  proposed  a  permanent 
duty  on  foreign  wheat  of  40s.  per  quarter,  and  he  claimed 
protection  for  every  description  of  produce  raised  from  British 
soil.  Mr.  Benett's  plan  was  a  permanent  duty  of  24s.  per 
quarter  after  the  averages  had  again  reached  80s.,  and  a 
drawback  of  18s.  per  quarter  to  be  allowed  on  the  exporta- 
tion of  wheat  of  marketable  quality.  Mr.  Curwen  suggested 

15* 


174  HISTORY    OF    THE 

to  the  House  that  when  the  average  price  of  wheat  reached 
80,$.  the  ports  should  be  opened  for  the  admission  of  400,000 
quarters  of  foreign  wheat,  at  a  duty  of  10s.  ;  and  if,  six  weeks 
after  this  quantity  had  been  admitted,  the  average  price  should 
still  continue  above  80s.,  then  to  allow  of  the  importation  of 
an  additional  403,030  quarters,  at  a  duty  of  5s.  The  late 
Mr.  Ricardo  moved  resolutions  to  the  effect  that  when  the 
averages  rose  to  65s.  per  quarter  all  the  foreign  wheat  then 
in  bond  should  be  liberated  at  a  duty  of  15s.  ;  and  that  after- 
ward, whenever  the  averages  exceeded  70s.,  the  trade  in 
wheat  should  be  free,  at  a  permanent  duty  of  20s.  :  one  year 
from  that  time  the  duty  to  be  reduced  to  19s.,  and  a  similar 
reduction  to  be  made  each  year  until  the  duty  was  10s.,  at 
which  it  should  be  permanently  fixed  ;  at  the  same  time 
allowing  a  drawback  or  bounty  on  exportation  of  7s.  per 
quarter. 

The  resolutions  moved  by  Mr.  Huskisson,  on  the  29th  of 
April,  during  the  agricultural  panic  of  1822,  show  that  he 
took  a  calm  and  rational  view  of  the  subject.  They  were  to 
the  following  effect : — That  in  February,  1819,  the  average 
price  of  wheat  was  78s.  Id.  per  quarter,  and  the  total  quan- 
tity of  wheat  imported  during  the  year  was  only  300,416 
quarters.  In  1320  the  average  price  of  wheat  was  65s.  10fZ., 
and  the  foreign  supplies  of  wheat  arriving  in  the  port  of  Lon- 
don were  under  400,000  quarters  ;  and  in  1821  the  average 
price  was  still  lower,  being  54s.  5d.,  and  the  foreign  supplies 
in  the  same  port  were  under  500,000  quarters  for  the  year. 
In  January,  February,  and  March,  1822,  the  average  price 
was  lower  still,  being  47s.  9d.,  and  the  ports  were  closed. 
Mr.  Huskisson's  second  resolution  was  to  the  effect  that, 
"  during  the  whole  of  this  period  of  three  years,  the  supply 
in  all  the  principal  markets  of  the  United  Kingdom  appears 
^uniformly  to  have  exceeded  the  demand,  notwithstanding  the 
wants  of  an  increasing  population,  and  other  circumstances 
which  have  probably  produced  an  increased  consumption." 


BRITISH    COKN-LAAVS.  17") 

The  third  resolution  showed — "  That  the  excess  of  the  supply 
above  the  demand  must  have  arisen  either  from  an  extent  of 
corn  tillage  more  than  commensurate  to  the  average  con- 
sumption of  the  country,  or  from  a  succession  of  abundant 
harvests  upon  the  same  extent  of  tillage,  or  from  the  coinci- 
dent effect  of  both  these  causes."  To  prevent  the  alternate 
evils  of  scarcity  and  redundance,  Mr.  Huskisson  proposed 
that  the  trade  should  be  permanently  free  at  a  duty  of  15s. 
per  quarter,  when  the  averages  were  under  80s. ;  and  when 
above  80*.  the  duty  to  be  5s.  ;  and  above  85s.  a  nominal 
duty  of  Is.  only  to  be  imposed. 

The  Select  Committee  of  the  house  of  commons  had  a  still 
greater  variety  of  projects  offered  for  its  consideration.  One 
plan  proposed  to  the  Committee  of  1821  was  to  withdraw  the 
permission  to  warehouse  foreign  wheat  or  any  other  foreign 
grain  in  England  ;  and  the  Committee  felt  itself  under  the 
necessity  of  arguing  this  point  in  their  report,  by  showing  the 
pernicious  effect  of  such  a  regulation  on  the  shipping  interest, 
and  on  the  country  generally.  The  Committee  of  1822  had 
under  its  serious  consideration  two  plans  for  the  alleviation 
of  agricultural  distress: — 1.  The  application  of  1, 000,0007. 
in  Exchequer  bills,  to  be  employed  through  the  agency  of 
government  in  buying  up  a  certain  quantity  of  British  wheat 
to  be  placed  in  store.  2.  Advances  to  be  made  to  indivi- 
duals on  produce  deposited  in  warehouses,  to  prevent  them 
coining  into  the  market  simultaneously.  The  first  plan  was 
rejected  by  the  Committee,  but  they  considered  the  second 
was  feasible,  and  were  of  opinion  that  "the  sum  of  1,000,  OOO/. 
so  employed  (in  loans  on  stock,)  would  probably  be  fully 
adequate  to  give  a  temporary  check  to  the  excess  which  is 
continually  poured  into  the  overstocked  market."  Having 
reaped  the  full  advantage  of  high  prices,  it  could  only  be  as 
a  matter  of  expedience  rather  than  of  equity  that  the  agricul- 
turists should  be  exempt  from  the  effects  of  a  return  of  peace 
and  plenty.  In  the  house  of  lords,  the  Marquis  of  London- 


176  HISTORY    OF    THE 

derry,  on  the  29th  of  April,  moved  that  1,000,0007.  be  ad- 
vanced in  Exchequer  bills,  when  the  average  price  of  wheat 
was  under  60s. 

There  was  one  class  to  whom  the  low  prices  of  1820-1-2 
were  advantageous.  It  is  admitted  beyond  a  doubt  that  the 
laborer  and  artisan  were  in  a  much  more  contented  and 
prosperous  state  in  these  years  than  they  had  probably  been 
for  thirty  years  before.  Wages  had  risen,  and  they  did  not 
fall  in  the  same  proportion  (if  in  some  cases  they  fell  at  all) 
with  the  low  prices  of  agricultural  produce.  In  the  dear 
years  of  1812-17-19,  the  country  was  in  a  disturbed  state ; 
but  in  1820-1-2  the  laboring  classes  were  peaceful  and  con- 
tented. After  the  peace,  the  continent  being  opened  to  our 
manufactures,  the  population  engaged  in  this  branch  of  na- 
tional industry,  which  had  experienced  the  severest  distress 
during  the  war,  was  now  placed  in  a  position  of  greater  com- 
fort from  the  stimulus  given  to  the  pursuits  in  which  they 
were  engaged. 

The  fall  of  prices  in  1820-1-2  had  fully  demonstrated  the 
futility  of  the  corn-law  of  1815,  and  it  was  there  fore  propos- 
ed  to  modify  it. 


BRITISH   CORN-LAWS.  177 

CHAPTER   VIII. 

SEVENTH  PERIOD. FROM  1822  TO  1828. 

Defects  of  the  law  of  1815 — Extraordinary  disparity  of  prices  from  1804 
to  1815 — Amendments  to  the  foregoing  act — Their  intentions,  and  the 
failure  of  them — The  importation  act  of  1826 — The  act  of  indemnity  for 
this  order — Canning's  measures  in  1827  for  graduated  scale  of  duties — 
Modifications  by  the  Duke  of  Wellington — Improvements  in  the  corn 
trade  in  North  American  colonies — Novel  scale  of  importation  charges — 
Inefficiency  of  the  fluctuating  scale,  &c. — 

THE  framers  of  the  corn-law  of  1815  did  not  take  into  ac- 
count the  effect  of  the  years  of  scarcity  which  occurred  so 
frequently  after  1804,  nor  the  obstruction  of  foreign  supplies 
caused  by  the  war.  It  was  founded  on  the  supposition  that, 
high  as  were  the  average  prices  of  those  years,  they  were 
only  such  as  resulted  from  the  cost  of  production,  with  the 
addition  of  the  farmer's  profits  and  the  landlord's  rent,  (both 
calculated  on  too  high  a  scale.)  In  the  interval  between 
1804  and  1815,  whenever  a  foreign  supply  of  corn  was  re- 
quired, the  home  market  rose  to  an  elevation  sufficient  to 
command  a  supply  subject  to  enormous  charges,  amounting 
to  from  30*.  to  50s.  the  quarter.  Freight,  insurance,  and 
other  charges,  which  had  amounted  to  50*.  the  quarter  from 
the  Baltic,  have  been  as  low  as  4.s.  6d.  within  the  last  few 
years,  but  the  difference  between  a  free  and  obstructed  in- 
tercourse was  taken  as  little  into  account  as  the  influence  of 
a  series  of  defective  crops.  Prices  having  sunk  so  much 
below  the  amount  which  had  been  assumed  to  be  necessary 
to  remunerate  the  British  corn-growers,  the  law  of  1815  was 
suspended  by  a  new  act  passed  in  July,  1822.  It  enacted 
that,  "  as  soon  as  foreign  wheat  shall  have  been  admitted  for 
home  consumption  under  the  provisions  of  the  Act  of  55  Geo. 
III.  c.  26  [the  corn-law  of  1815,]  the  scale  of  prices  at  which 


178  HISTORY   OF    THE 

the  home  consumption  of  foreign  corn,  meal,  or  flour  is  per- 
mitted by  the  said  Act  shall  cease  and  determine."  The 
new  scale  was  as  follows  : — Wheat  at  or  above  70s.,  duty 
12s.  ;  and  for  the  first  three  months  of  the  ports  being  open 
an  additional  duty  of  5s.  per  quarter,  being  a  duty  17s. 
Above  70s.  and  under  80s.,  the  "first  low  duty  "of  5s.  with  the 
addition  of  5s.  for  the  first  three  months ;  above  80s.  and 
under  85s.,  the  "second  low  duty"  of  Is.  was  alone  to  be 
charged. 

This  act  did  not  come  into  operation  at  all,  as  prices  never 
reached  80s.  It  is  justly  described  as  being  merely  a  pre- 
tended relaxation  of  the  former  act  ;  for,  though  the  limit  of 
total  prohibition  was  lowered  from  80s.  to  70s.,  yet,  if  the 
act  had  come  into  operation,  the  duty  would  have  rendered 
it  more  severe  than  the  measure  of  which  it  was  substituted 
as  an  improvement.  With  the  exception  of  some  barley,  no 
corn  was  ever  brought  from  abroad  under  the  provisions  of 
this  act.  But  in  1826,  in  consequence  of  the  unfavorable 
harvest,  a  temporary  act  was  passed,  admitting  a  quantity  of 
foreign  grain  for  home  consumption.  Next  year  the  govern- 
ment was  driven  to  a  still  more  decisive  step.  In  the  spring 
of  the  year  ministers  had  stated  that  it  was  not  their  intention 
to  liberate  the  corn  then  in  bond,  upon  which  prices  imme- 
diately rose.  This  was  followed  by  some  disturbances  in 
the  manufacturing  districts,  to  allay  which  the  government, 
on  the  1st  of  May,  proposed  to  parliament  to  release  the 
bonded  corn,  and,  as  a  measure  of  precaution,  required  to  be 
invested  with  powers  to  admit  during  the  recess  of  parliament 
an  additional  quantity,  not  exceeding  500,000  quarters,  in 
case  the  harvest  proved  deficient.  These  powers  were  acted 
upon,  and  on  September  1  an  Order  in  Council  was  issued, 
admitting  certain  descriptions  of  grain  for  home  consumption, 
until  forty  days  after  the  next  meeting  of  parliament,  at  an 
almost  nominal  rate  of  duty,  on  the  ground  that,  "  if  the  im- 
portation for  home  consumption  of  oats  and  oatmeal,  and  of 


BRITISH    CORN-LAWS.  179 

rye,  peas,  and  beans,  be  not  immediately  permitted,  there  is 
great  cause  to  fear  that  much  distress  may  ensue  to  all  class- 
es of  his  Majesty's  subjects."  In  the  ensuing  session  of 
parliament  ministers  obtained  an  act  of  indemnity  for  this 
order. 

In  1827,  after  these  indications  of  imperfection  had  given 
strength  to  the  opinion  that  some  other  system  must  be  devis- 
ed, Mr.  Canning  introduced  certain  resolutions  in  the  house 
of  commons,  the  leading  principle  of  which  was  to  permit 
importation  at  all  times  by  substituting  a  graduated  scale  of 
duties  in  place  of  absolute  prohibition  under  80s.  A  bill  was 
brought  in,  founded  on  these  resolutions,  fixing  a  duty  of  1*. 
on  foreign  wheat  when  the  average  price  was  70s.  per  quar- 
ter ;  a  duty  of  2s.  being  imposed  for  the  reduction  of  each 
shilling  in  the  averages.  In  respect  to  colonial  wheat,  the 
duty  was  fixed  at  6d.  when  the  averages  were  65s.  per  quar- 
ter, and  when  under  that  sum  at  5s.  per  quarter.  The  bill 
was  not  carried  through  the  house  of  lords,  the  Duke  of 
Wellington  having  moved  and  carried  a  clause  the  effect  of 
which  was  to  destroy  the  principal  feature  of  the  measure, 
by  keeping  the  ports  entirely  shut  so  long  as  the  price  of 
wheat  was  under  66s.  the  quarter.  An  act  was,  however, 
passed  during  this  session  to  permit  corn,  meal,  &c.,  ware- 
housed on  the  1st  of  July,  1827,  to  be  entered  for  home  con- 
sumption upon  payment  of  duties  according  to  a  fluctuating 
scale.  About  572,000  quarters  of  wheat  and  flour  were 
entered  for  consumption  under  this  act,  at  a  duty  averaging 
above  20s.  per  quarter.  The  harvest  had  not  been  defective, 
and  this  was  the  very  reason  why  the  corn  in  bond  was  re- 
leased notwithstanding  the  high  duty,  as  there  was  no  prospect 
of  prices  advancing.  The  additional  supply  under  such 
circumstances  caused  a  considerable  depression  in  the  home 
market 

In  1821  a  new  act  was  passed  relative  to  the  averages. 
Instead  of  "  the  maritime  districts,"  148  towns  were  named, 


180  HISTORY   OF    THE 

for  which  the  magistrates  were  to  appoint  inspectors  to  make 
a  return  of  the  weekly  purchases. 

In  1825  the  trade  in  corn  and  grain  to  the  British  colonies 
in  North  America  was  placed  on  a  more  favorable  footing. 
The  regulations  under  which  the  timber-trade  is  carried  on, 
and  which  favor  these  colonies,  have  to  a  considerable  extent 
directed  their  industry  into  other  channels  than  those  of  agri- 
culture. During  one  or  two  seasons,  recently  the  United 
States,  also,  instead  of  having  a  surplus  supply  of  wheat,  have 
been  under  the  necessity  of  importing  that  grain,  the  industry 
of  the  country  having  been  diverted  from  agriculture  to  man- 
ufactures. 

The  six  weeks'  averages  still  regulated  the  amount  of 
duty  on  importation,  but  they  were  greatly  improved  by  being 
every  week  subject  to  an  alteration.  Each  week  the  re- 
ceiver of  corn  returns  struck  out  one  week's  averages,  admit- 
ting those  last  received,  and  thereby  affecting  the  aggregate 
average,  as  prices  rose  or  fell  from  week  to  week.  The  in- 
troduction of  a  fluctuating  scale  of  duty  was  an  important 
step,  and  its  effect  will  be  considered  in  the  next  period. 

It  was  impossible  to  continue  any  longer  a  system  which, 
for  three  successive  years,  1825-6-7,  had  been  compelled  to 
bend  to  the  force  of  temporary  circumstances  ;  and  like  pre- 
vious measures  it  was  abandoned  by  its  supporters  either  as 
inefficient  or  injurious.  Such  a  state  of  things  brings  us  to 
another  period  in  the  history  of  the  corn-law  legislation. 


BRITISH    CORN-LAWS.  181 

.CHAPTER  IX. 

EIGHTH    PERIOD. FROM    1828    TO    THE    PRESENT   TIME. 

Lord  Glenelg's  bill  in  1828 — Still  in  force — Its  character  and  provisions — 
Average  scale  of  prices,  contrasted  with  that  of  Canning — Its  inefficiency 
in  preventing  fluctuating  prices — The  distress  of  1833  and  1S36— Condi- 
tion of  landlords  and  tenants — Theory  of  Gregory  King — Prices  in  1835 
and  '39 — Estimated  consumption  of  corn  in  Great  Britain,  its  cost,  &c. — 
Causes  of  stagnation  of  trade,  &c. — 

'  IN  1828  Mr.  Charles  Grant  (now  Lord  Glenelg)  introdu- 
ced a  series  of  resolutions  slightly  differing  from  those  which 
had  been  moved  by  Mr.  Canning,  and  they  were  eventually 
embodied  in  a  bill  which  was  carried  thi'ough  both  Houses, 
and  received  the  royal  assent  on  the  15th  of  July.  This 
measure,  by  which  the  corn-trade  is  at  present  regulated,  is 
entitled  "  An  Act  to  amend  the  Laws  relating  to  the  Impor- 
tation of  Corn,"  and  repeals  55  Geo.  III.  c.  26  (1815  ;)  3 
Geo.  IV.  c.  60  (1822  ;)  and  7  and  8  Geo.  IV.,  c.  58  (1827.) 
The  provisions  for  settling  the  averages  under  this  act  are  as 
follows : — In  one  hundred  and  fifty  towns  in  England  and 
Wales,  mentioned  in  the  act,  corn-dealers  are  required  to 
make  a  declaration  that  they  will  return  an  accurate  account 
of  their  purchases.  [In  London,  the  sellers  make  the  return.] 
Inspectors  are  appointed  in  each  of  these  one  hundred  and 
fifty  towns,  who  transmit  returns  to  the  Receiver  in  the  Corn 
Department  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  whose  duty  it  is  to  com- 
pute the  average  weekly  price  of  each  description  of  grain, 
and  the  aggregate  average  price  for  the  previous  six  weeks, 
and  to  transmit  a  certified  copy  to  the  collectors  of  customs 
at  the  different  outports.  The  return  on  which  the  average 
prices  are  based  is  published  every  Friday  in  "  The  London 
Gazette."  The  aggregate  average  for  six  weeks  regulates 
the  duty  on  importation.  Jn  1837  the  quantity  of  British 

IQ 


Ib2  HISTORY   OF    THE 

wheat  sold  in  these  towns  was  3,888,957  quarters  ;  in  1838 
there  were  4,064,305  quarters  returned  as  sold ;  and 
3,174,680  quarters  in  1839. 

Wheat  at  50s.  pays  a  duty  of  36s.  3d.  ;  barley  at  32s.  a 
duty  of  13s.  lOd. ;  oats  at  24s.  a  duty  of  10s.  9d. ;  rye,  peas, 
and  beans,  at  35s.  a  duty  of  16s.  9d.  In  the  case  of  wheat, 
when  the  price  is  66s.,  for  every  shilling  that  the  price  falls 
the  duty  increases  by  Is.,  and  decreases  by  the  same  sum 
for  every  shilling  that  the  price  rises  (see  the  third  column 
of  the  following  scale  ;)  for  all  other  grain  the  duty  increases 
by  Is.  6d.  for  every  shilling  that  the  price  rises.  Colonial 
wheat  is  admitted  at  a  duty  of  6d.  when  the  average  of  the 
six  weeks  is  at  or  above  67s.  ;  and  when  below  67s.  the  duty 
is  5s.  the  quarter,  and  for  other  grain  in  proportion.  Import- 
ation is  free  on  payment  of  Is.  on  the  quarter  when  wheat 
in  the  home  market  is  73s. ;  barley  41s.  ;  oats  31s. ;  and 
rye,  peas,  and  beans  46s.  the  quarter. 

In  the  following  Table  the  scale  of  duties  proposed  by 
Mr.  Canning,  and  that  adopted  by  the  legislature  in  1828, 
and  acted  upon  up  to  the  present  time,  are  placed  in  juxta- 
position :— 

Average  Prices  Duty  according  to  Duty  according  to 

of  Wheat.  Mr.  Canning's  Bill.  the  present  Scale. 

s.  s.  s.  d. 

73  ....  1  ....  1  0 

72  ....  1  ....  2  8 

71  ....  1  ....  6  8 

70  ....  1  ....  10  8 

69  ....  2  ....  13  8 

68  ....  4  ....  16   8 

67  ....  6  ....  18  8 

66  ....  8  ....  20  8 

65  ....  10  ....  21  8 

64  ....  12  ....  22  8 

63  14  23  8 


BRITISH    CORN-LAWS.  1S3 

Average  Prices  Duty  according  to  Duty  according  to 

of  Wheat.  Mr.  Canning's  Bill.  the  present  Scale. 

».  s.  s.    d. 

62  ....  16  ....  24  8 

61  ....  18  ....  25  8 

60  ....  20  ....  26  8 

59  ....  22  ....  27 

58  ....  24  ....  28  8 

57  ...-.  26  ....  29  8 

56  ....  28  ....  30  8 

55  ....  30  ....  31  8 

54  ....  32  ....  32  8 

53  ....  34  ....  33  8 

The  present  law  has  not  succeeded  in  maintaining  steadi- 
ness of  price,  the  extremes  of  fluctuation  being  35s.  4d.  in 
December,  1835,  and  81s.  in  January,  1839,  or  a  difference 
of  129  per  cent.  To  this  derangement  of  prices  is  to  be  at- 
tributed  much  of  the  depression  which  the  agriculturists  ex- 
perienced  in  1833  and  1836.  In  each  of  these  years  their 
distressed  condition  was  noticed  in  the  speech  from  the  throne 
on  the  opening  of  parliament,  and  select  committees  were 
appointed  in  both  years  to  inquire  into  their  state.  Since  the 
commencement  of  1836  nothing  has  been  heard  of  agricul- 
tural distress,  prices  having  risen  from  39s.  4d.  per  quarter 
for  wheat  in  1835  to  70s.  8d.  in  1839  ;  but  the  commercial 
and  manufacturing  interests  have  been  visited  with  a  season 
of  adversity. 

When  the  harvests  have  been  abundant,  the  laborer  and 
artisan  contented,  and  trade  and  manufactures  flourishing, 
the  agriculturist  has  suffered  from  the  depreciation  of  prices. 
If  abundant  crops  thus  plunge  him  into  distress,  there  can  be 
no  other  reason  for  it  than  the  engagements  which  he  has 
contracted  with  his  landlord  being  adapted  only  for  years  of 
scarcity  and  high  prices,  such  as  occurred  during  the  war, 
when  the  effect  of  unfavorable  seasons  was  aggravated  by  the 


184  HISTORY   OF   THE 

obstructions  to  commercial  intercourse.  The  tenant  now 
seems  to  be  dependent  upon  years  of  deficiency  in  order  to 
realize  the  average  rate  of  profit  on  his  capital ;  and  so  long 
as  the  price  of  grain  is  subject  to  such  great  fluctuations  as 
have  been  already  stated,  there  is  no  permanent  basis  on 
which  he  can  contract  with  his  landlord.  His  rent  must  be 
determined  by  the  rate  of  prices  when  he  takes  his  lease, 
which  may  turn  out  in  the  long-run  to  be  favorable  either  to 
himself  or  his  landlord. 

Gregory  King,  an  economist  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
endeavored  to  prove  that  a  strict  rule  of  proportion  existed  be- 
tween a  given  defect  of  the  harvest  and  the  corresponding 
rise  of  prices.  The  principle  of  his  theory  is  undoubtedly 
true.  The  average  price  of  wheat  for  1835  was  under  49s. 
the  quarter,  and  for  1839  it  was  80  per  cent,  higher,  or  70s. 
8d. ;  yet  no  one  will  assert  that  the  crops  were  nearly  one 
half  below  an  average,  or  even  one  fourth,  as  in  the  great 
scarcity  of  1816.  The  deficiency  of  1839  is  not  estimated 
as  more  than  one  seventh,  or  at  the  utmost  one  fifth ;  yet 
prices  rose  to  nearly  double  their  amount  in  1835.  Assum- 
ing the  consumption  of  Great  Britain  to  be  16,000,000  quar- 
ters of  wheat,  the  sum  paid  for  a  year's  consumption  would 
be  about  31,000,0007.  in  1835,  while  the  same  quantity 
would  cost  56,000,0007.  in  1839.  The  difference,  amount- 
ing to  25,000,0007.,  docs  not  go  into  the  pockets  of  the  farmer, 
otherwise  two  or  three  abundant  years  and  low  prices  would 
not  occasion  him  embarrassment,  but  it  is  abstracted  in  the 
shape  of  rent,  and  neither  the  farmer  nor  the  laborer  has 
any  advantage  from  it.  So  large  a  sum  withdrawn  from  the 
usual  channels  of  circulation  creates  stagnation  in  the  different 
branches  of  non-agricultural  industry ;  and  thus  in  dear 
years  those  interests  are  always  in  a  languishing  and  embar- 
rassed state;  though  if  high  prices  were  good,  they  would 
be  beneficial  to  both  interests.  In  years  of  low  prices  the 
scale  is  turned  ;  the  manufacturers  become  prosperous,  and 


BRITISH    CORN-LAWS.  185 

the  agriculturist  is  distressed.  Steadiness  in  the  price  of  so 
important  an  article  as  bread-corn  is  essential  to  the  welfare 
of  every  class. 

Although,  after  a  deficient  harvest,  prices  rise  beyond  the 
ratio  of  the  deficiency,  yet  in  abundant  seasons  they  do  not 
fall  in  the  same  ratio  as  produce  is  superabundant,  as  the 
wealthier  corn-growers  are  enabled  to  keep  back  their  sup- 
plies. 

What  is  wanted  is,  at  least,  such  an  importation  of  foreign 
supplies  as  would  check  the  excess  of  prices,  and  render 
them  no  more  than  equivalent  to  the  proportion  in  which  the 
crops  are  deficient.  This  is  not  effected  under  the  present 
scale  of  duties,  which,  in  a  very  able  pamphlet,  is  shown  to 
operate  as  a  bounty  to  withhold  sales  until  prices  reach  their 
maximum.  "  The  gain  of  speculators  is  calculated  not  only 
on  the  advance  in  the  price  of  corn,  but  also  in  i\\efalJ  in  the 
scale  of  duty ;  and  as  the  duty  falls  in  a  greater  ratio  than 
the  price  of  the  corn  rises,  the  duty  operates  as  a  bounty  to 
withhold  sales."*  When,  for  example,  the  average  price  in 
the  home  market  is  66s.,  the  duty  is  20s.  8d.,  and  on  the 
prices  reaching  73*.  the  duty  is  only  Is.  ;  and  the  difference 
of  profit  to  the  importer  is  thus  7*.  by  the  advance  of  prices, 
and  19*.  Sd.  by  the  fall  of  duty,  making  a  total  of  26*.  8d. 
The  average  duty  paid  on  the  11,318,549  quarters  of  foreign 
wheat  entered  for  home  consumption  since  the  present  corn- 
law  came  into  operation,  to  the  5th  of  January,  1841,  was 
5*.  8d.  per  quarter ;  but  of  the  above  quantity,  4,532,651 
quarters  were  admitted  in  the  fifteen  months  ending  Septem- 
ber, 1839,  at  a  duty  of  3*.  7d.  only. 


*Mr.  Salomons  "On  the  Operation  of  the  Present  Scale  of  Duty  on 
Foreign  Corn." 

16* 


180  HISTORY  OF  THE 

CHAPTER   X. 

NINTH    PERIOD. MAY,    1841. 

Lord  John  Russell's  proposal  for  permanently  fixed  duties  on  imported 
corn,  &c. — Review  of  the  several  measures  of  the  British  legislature  on 
the  subject — Productive  industry  and  capabilities  of  England — The  plan 
of  the  proposed  alterations — Commercial  relations  at  the  peace,  and  the 
results  of  the  erroneous  policy — Representations  of  the  Committee  for 
Munich,  Dresden,  &c. — Comparative  exports  of  cotton-stuffs  to  the  north 
in  1820  and  1828 — Considerations  on  the  proposed  scale  of  duties — Proba- 
ble results — Memorandum  from  the  department  of  the  customs  in  Eng- 
land— Erroneous  estimates  of  the  cost  of  foreign  corn — Extract  from 
McCulloch  on  this  point — Prices  of  the  Prussian  and  English  markets 
contrasted — Extract  from  Mr.  Jacob's  report  on  transportation  of  wheat 
to  Odessa,  Dantzic,  &c. — Account  of  the  consumption  of  wheat  and  flour, 
foreign  and  colonial,  in  the  United  Kingdom — Evidences  of  the  prejudi- 
cial influence  of  the  fluctuating  scale  of  prices,  <fcc.  ...  — 

ON  the  7th  of  May  Lord  John  Russell,  as  the  organ  of  the 
government,  announced  his  intention  of  moving,  in  a  com- 
mittee of  the  whole  house,  the  following  fixed  duties  on  the 
importation  of  foreign  corn  : — 

Wheat,         -  -8s.  Od.  per  quarter. 

Rye,  peas,  and  beans,        -         5s.  Od. 

Barley,  4s.  6d. 

Oats,  ....  3s.  4J. 
A  fixed  permanent  duty  has  not  hitherto  been  adopted  un- 
der any  of  the  numerous  acts  for  regulating  the  importation 
of  foreign  corn.  Prior  to  1436  there  do  not  appear  to  have 
been  any  restrictions  of  a  fiscal  nature  on  the  import  trade 
in  corn.  The  prosperity  of  the  country  at  that  period  depend- 
ed chiefly  on  its  agriculture,  and  the  object  of  the  legislature 
was  to  promote  the  exportation  of  agricultural  produce.  The 
act  of  1773  admitted  wheat  at  a  duty  of  6d.  the  quarter  when 
the  average  price  in  the  home  market  was  something  above 
the  cost  of  production.  This  is  the  most  reasonable  corn- 


BRITISH   CORN-LAWS,  187 

law  which  the  country  has  yet  had ;  and  prices  in  England 
and  the  opposite  parts  of  the  continent  were  about  the  same 
level.  In  the  act  of  1815  little  regard  was  paid  to  the  aver, 
age  cost  of  production ;  supplies  were  excluded  until  the 
average  price  of  wheat  reached  80s.  the  quarter ;  and  an 
artificial  stimulus  was  given  to  agriculture,  which,  in  the 
end,  proved  highly  injurious  to  those  whose  interests  it  was 
designed  to  favor,  and  who  abandoned  the  act  with  as  much 
good  will  as  they  had  called  for  its  enactment.  Since  the 
act  of  1773  great  changes  have  taken  place  in  the  occupa- 
tions of  the  people  of  this  country.  England  is.  no  longer 
dependent  on  agriculture  and  the  home  trade  alone.  The 
home  market  is  not  sufficiently  extensive  to  give  full  activity 
to  the  productive  powers  and  industry  of  the  country,  and 
the  markets  of  the  world  are  necessary  to  insure  our  pros- 
perity. Even  if  a  portion  of  the  population  engaged  in  man- 
ufactures could,  by  any  possibility,  be  annihilated  and  cut 
down  to  a  proportion  which  would  be  fully  employed  in  sat- 
isfying the  domestic  demand,  the  energies  of  that  diminished 
portion  would  soon  need  a  wider  field  for  their  unfettered 
exercise,  and  would  require  the  removal  of  the  artificial  bar- 
riers which  limited  their  powers  and  diminished  their  pros- 
perity. But  it  is  of  course  foolish  to  entertain  the  idea  of 
cramping  the  industry  of  the  country  with  the  view  of  ren- 
dering it  more  prosperous.  There  the  non-agricultural  po- 
pulation is  ;  and  to  its  skill,  aided  by  the  wondrous  power  of 
machinery,  are  we  indebted  for  the  luxuries  which  nature 
has  bestowed  upon  other  countries  but  denied  to  this,  giving 
it  instead  unlimited  mineral  wealth,  a  fortunate  geographical 
position,  and  a  population  whose  admirable  qualities  have 
never  been  surpassed. 

The  proposed  alteration  in  the  import  duties  on  corn  and 
grain  has  been  brought  forward  in  connection  with  plans  of 
fiscal  reform,  which,  if  carried,  will  lead  to  a  complete  re- 
vision of  our  commercial  policy,  with  a  view  of  placing  our 


188  HISTORY    OF    THE 

relations  with  other  countries  on  a  morj  satisfactory  founda- 
tion, and  of  enabling  our  manufacturers  to  preserve  their 
footing  in  some  of  the  principal  markets  of  the  world.  The 
effect  of  the  present  competition  is  to  reduce  profits  and  wages 
to  the  same  level,  whether  on  the  continent  or  in  England, 
with  this  disadvantage  to  ourselves, — that  the  cost  of  food  is 
artificially  raised  in  this  country.  Had  our  commercial  pol- 
icy been  placed  on  a  proper  basis  at  the  peace,  we  should 
still  have  had  customers  where  we  have  now  rivals.  But 
duties  have  been  placed  on  British  manufactures  in  retalia- 
tion of  our  attempt  to  exclude  raw  produce  sent  in  payment 
for  them.  This  is  the  argument  with  which  our  diplomatists 
are  met  at  every  foreign  court,  from  Berlin  to  Cairo.  Mr. 
M'Gregor,  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  related  to  the 
committee  on  the  import  duties  the  appeals  which  were  made 
to  him  as  the  commercial  representative  of  this  country  at 
Berlin,  and  at  the  two  congresses  held  at  Munich  and  Dres- 
den ; — "  You  compelled  us"  (they  said)  "to  become  manu- 
facturers ;  we  have  not  mines  of  gold  and  silver,  and  you 
will  not  take  what  we  have  to  give  you ;  but  if  you  had  taken 
what  we  have  to  give,  we  should  have  continued  to  produce 
it ;  but  as  you  would  not  take  it,  our  people  were  intelligent 
enough  to  turn  their  attention  extensively  to  manufactures." 
Dr.  Bowring's  "  Report  to  Lord  Palmerston  on  the  Prussian 
Commercial  Union"  is  to  the  same  effect.  "  We  have  reject- 
ed" (says  he)  "  the  payments  they  have  offered, — we  have 
forced  them  to  manufacture  what  they  were  unable  to  buy." 
"  We  should  not  have  complained,"  says  a  distinguished 
German  writer,  "  that  all  our  markets  were  overflowing  with 
English  manufactures, — that  Germany  received,  in  British 
cotton  goods  alone,  more  than  the  hundred  millions  of  British 
subjects  in  the  East  Indies, — had  not  England,  while  she 
was  inundating  us  with  her  productions,  insisted  on  closing 
her  markets  to  ours.  The  English  Corn-Law  of  1815  had, 
in  fact,  excluded  our  corn  from  the  ports  of  Great  Britain  : 


BRITISH    CORN-LAWS.  189 

she  told  us  we  were  to  buy,  but  not  to  sell.  We  were  not 
willing  to  adopt  reprisals ;  we  vainly  hoped  that  a  sense  of 
her  own  interest  would  lead  to  reciprocity.  But  we  were 
disappointed,  and  we  were  compelled  to  take  care  of  our- 
selves." With  reference  to  the  United  States  of  America, 
Mr.  Addington,  the  British  Minister  at  Washington,  in  a 
despatch  to  Mr.  Canning,  said : — "  I  have  only  to  add,  that 
had  no  restrictions  on  the  importation  of  foreign  corn  existed 
in  Great  Britain,  the  tariff  would  never  have  passed  through 
either  house  of  congress,  since  the  agricultural  states,  and 
especially  Pennsylvania  would  have  been  opposed  to  its 
enactment." 

The  reconsideration  of  our  commercial  system  (in  which 
the  corn  trade  forms  so  important  a  part)  would,  sooner  or 
later,  have  been  forced  upon  us  by  the  change  which  has  for 
some  time  been  going  on  in  our  foreign  trade,  and  by  the  fact 
that  the  exports  of  our  manufactured  goods,  in  which  "much 
labor"  is  employed,  have  been  replaced  by  those  of  raw  and 
partially  manufactured  materials,  in  which  "little  labor"  is 
required.  To  Northern  Europe  we  exported  cotton  manu- 
factured goods  to  the  value  of  4,651,299?.  in  1820,  and,  in 
1838,  our  exports  of  the  same  goods  only  amounted  to 
1,607,990?.  ;  but  while  the  value  of  cotton  twist  (a  half  man- 
ufactured article)  exported  to  the  same  quarter,  in  1820,  was 
1,961,554?.,  it  amounted  to  5,378,455?.  in  1838.  The  same 
kind  of  change  has  taken  place  in  the  other  great  branches 
of  manufacture.  It  is  stated  that  "  the  quantity  of  cotton 
twist  exported,  if  made  into  goods  in  this  country,  would  give 
employment  to  nearly  double  the  number  of  hand-loom  and 
double  the  number  of  power-loom  weavers  at  present  engaged 
in  making  cotton  goods  for  exportation."*  But  the  necessity 
of  the  proposed  revision  was  unequivocally  demonstrated  by 
the  unsuccessful  attempt  in  1840  to  increase  the  revenue  by 

*  Report  of  the  Manchester  Chamber  of  Commerce. 


190  HISTORY    OP    THE 

additional  taxes.  On  the  assessed  taxes,  which  cannot  be 
evaded,  the  increase  was  realized  ;  but  on  articles  of  daily 
consumption  scarcely  any  additional  revenue  was  obtained. 
The  energies  of  the  country  were  already  too  much  depress- 
ed, and  they  had  lost  that  elasticity  which  had  carried  it 
through  so  many  difficulties.  To  restore  its  resources  to 
their  former  vigor  is  the  object  of  the  proposed  change  in 
the  corn-laws. 

The  duty  proposed  to  be  laid  on  wheat  exceeds  by  2s.  4d. 
the  duty  (5*.  8d.)  actually  paid  under  the  existing  law,  and 
by  4s.  5d.  the  duty  per  quarter  paid  on  the  importation  of 
41  million  quarters  in  1838-9.  At  the  first  glance  it  would 
appear  that  the  proposed  plan  was  therefore  less  favorable 
to  the  consumer  than  the  sliding  scale  under  which  -wheat 
may  be  admitted  at  a  duty  of  1*.  only.  But  it  is  the  opera- 
tion of  the  two  modes  of  charging  the  duty  on  price  which  is 
the  real  object  for  consideration.  Under  a  fluctuating  duty 
which  has  in  one  year  (1838)  changed  thirty  times  from  Jan- 
uary to  the  end  of  November,  and  in  other  years  since  it  was 
adopted  has  undergone  alterations  calculated  to  bafHe  the 
most  clear-seeing  speculator,  there  can  be  no  steadiness  of 
foreign  imports.  For  example,  in  1838  the  duty  in  the 
second  week  of  January  was  34s.  Sd.,  and  it  declined  gra- 
dually until  September  the  13th,  when  it  reached  the  lowest 
point.  Of  course,  during  this  period,  prices  were  rising  in 
the  home  market ;  but  instead  of  the  foreign  corn  in  bond 
being  gradually  admitted  for  consumption,  there  were  only 
about  33,000  quarters  entered  from  the  beginning  of  the  year 
up  to  the  end  of  August,  though  the  average  price  for  that 
month  was  74s.  8d.  The  speculators  waited  until  the  second 
week  of  September,  when,  by  having  withheld  the  supply, 
the  duty  became  nominal,  and  in  a  single  week  1,514,047 
quarters  of  foreign  wheat  were  thrown  upon  the  markets. 
This  sudden  addition  to  the  supply  occasioned  a  decline  of 


BRITISH   CORN-LAWS.  191 

prices,  and  the  duty  again  rose.     The  progress  of  the  duty 
in  the  short  space  of  six  weeks  was  as  follows  : — 

*.   d. 

Week  ending  Sept.  13th  .       .       .  10 

"                "  20th  ...  2  8 

"                "  27th  .       .       .  10  8 

"              Oct.  4th  .       .       .  16  8 

"                "  llth  .       .       .  20  8 

"                "  18th  .       .       .  21  8 

"                "  25th  .       .       .  22  8 

With  what  confidence  could  the  merchant  purchase  sup- 
plies in  the  foreign  markets  under  such  a  system  ?  A  cargo 
arriving  at  the  end  of  September,  instead  of  the  middle  of  the 
month,  would  have  been  subject  to  a  duty  of  10s.  8d.  instead 
of  Is.  per  quarter,  and  prices  would  have  fallen  lower  than 
might  have  been  calculated  upon  when  the  purchase  was  ef- 
fected. It  would  then  be  bonded,  and  might  remain  in  the 
warehouses  until  actually  unfit  for  use.  In  a  parliamentary 
paper  (46,  Session  1839)  it  is  stated  that  899  quarters  of 
foreign  wheat  were  abandoned  and  destroyed  that  year  in  the 
port  of  London.  The  circumstances  under  which  this  took 
place  are  explained  in  the  following  memorandum  from  the 
landing  and  warehousing  department  in  the  customs  : — 
"  This  wheat  had  been  in  the  custody  of  the  Crown  in  the 
bonded  warehouses  of  the  port  of  London  since  its  importation 
from  Petersburg  in  1831,  and  had  become  infested  with  weevil 
to  such  a  degree  as  to  be  unfit  for  human  food,  and  quite 
unsaleable.  Under  these  circumstances,  the  owners,  desirous 
of  being  relieved  from  further  expense  for  granary  rent,  &c., 
upon  an  article  which  had  become  almost  worthless,  applied 
to  the  board  of  customs  for  permission  to  destroy  it ;  and  the 
board,  on  the  report  of  their  officers  confirming  the  represen- 
tations of  the  owners  as  to  its  damaged  condition,  granted 
their  permission  accordingly,  which  was  carried  into  effect 


192  HISTORY    OF    THE 

on  25th  November,  1837,  by  the  grain  being  thrown  into  the 
river  Thames." 

Another  defect  of  the  fluctuating  scale  is  to  limit  the  radius 
of  supply,  which,  instead  of  comprising  the  north  and  south- 
east of  Europe,  the  Black  Sea,  Egypt,  the  United  States,  and 
other  distant  corn-growing  countries,  is  confined  chiefly  to 
the  markets  of  Hamburg,  Dantzic,  and  the  Baltic  ports,  to 
which  buyers  rush,  and,  by  their  competition  within  a  narrow 
circle,  raise  the  prices  to  an  unnecessary  height,  relying 
upon  the  profits  to  be  obtained  under  the  fluctuating  scale 
amply  indemnifying  them  for  the  extra  charges  which  the 
necessity  of  despatch  and  expedition  occasions.  Purchases 
are  made  with  bills  drawn  on  England  ;  as  the  unsteadiness 
of  the  trade  does  not  encourage  that  demand  for  our  man- 
ufactures which  would  spring  up  to  the  advantage  of  both 
parties  if  it  were  less  subject  to  impulsive  starts.  The  de- 
rangement of  monetary  affairs  is  a  necessary  consequence 
of  a  trade  conducted  under  these  circumstances ;  and 
the  value  of  merchandise  of  all  kinds  declines  from  sales 
being  forced  in  order  to  meet  engagements  at  a  time  when 
money  has  been  rendered  scarce  by  the  drain  of  remittances 
for  corn.  Neither  does  the  present  sliding  scale  work  bene- 
ficially for  the  farmer,  since  it  renders  prices  unsteady.  The 
farmer  with  large  capital  may  derive  advantage  from  it,  as 
he  can  select  his  own  time  for  the  sale  of  his  produce  ;  he 
can  act  in  tacit  co-operation  with  the  importer  of  foreign  corn, 
and,  taking  advantage  of  the  highest  rise  of  prices,  get  it  off 
his  hands  before  the  markets  have  been  temporarily  glutted 
with  a  foreign  supply.  In  1838  this  influx  of  foreign  grain 
took  place  just  before  the  harvest,  and  the  great  majority  of 
farmers  had  to  dispose  of  their  produce  when  the  markets  had 
been  lowered  from  the  large  foreign  supply  admitted  just 
when  the  produce  of  our  own  harvest  was  coming  to  market. 
Another  disadvantage  of  the  sliding  scale  is  experienced  in 
those  years  when  the  crops  are  of  inferior  quality.  There 


BRITISH   CORN-LAWS.  193 

is  an  excessive  scarcity  of  good  wheat,  but  the  quantity  sold 
of  an  inferior  quality  depresses  the  average  prices,  and  raises 
the  duty  so  as  to  exclude  a  supply  of  sound  wheat  from 
abroad.  In  this  case  the  holders  of  English  wheat  which 
happens  to  have  been  favorably  harvested  enjoy  an  exclusive 
monopoly  of  the  market ;  or,  if  it  be  disturbed,  it  is  not  until 
the  price  of  the  best  wheat  has  risen  so  high  as  to  enable  the 
importer  to  pay  a  duty,  probably  exceeding  20s.  per  quarter, 
in  addition  to  all  other  charges. 

A  very  exaggerated  notion  prevails  in  this  country  respect- 
ing the  prices  of  foreign  corn  in  the  principal  markets  from 
which  we  obtain  a  supply  when  our  own  crops  are  deficient. 
The  average  price  of  wheat  in  Dantzic  during  the  ten  years 
ending  1831  was  33s.  5d.  per  quarter,  and  during  the  twenty- 
two  years  ending  with  1838  it  was  Ms.  &d.  the  quarter.  It 
is  to  no  purpose  to  refer  to  the  prices  in  Volhynia  or  in  Po- 
dolia,  which  are  of  course  very  low  compared  with  prices  in 
this  country  ;  but  the  competition  is  not  between  the  growers 
of  England  and  those  of  Poland.  The  question  is  at  what 
price  wheat  from  these  districts  can  be  introduced  into  the 
English  market,  for  the  competition  of  the  English  grower  is 
with  the  foreigner  after  his  produce  has  been  charged  with  all 
the  costs  of  conveyance  to  the  ports  of  shipment  and  with  the 
profits  of  intermediate  dealers  both  foreign  and  English.  Mr. 
Porter,  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  says : — "  The  charges,  in. 
ordinary  times,  of  merely  transporting  a  quarter  of  wheat 
from  the  north  of  Germany  and  the  lower  ports  of  the  Baltic 
to  England,  are  stated,  on  good  authority,  to  be  10s.  6d.  in 
addition  to  all  the  charges  of  shipping ;  and  I  am  assured 
that  in  order  to  get  back  in  London  the  cost  of  a  quarter  of 
wheat  bought  in  the  Dantzic  market  with  the  lowest  rate  of 
mercantile  profit,  it  must  be  sold  at  an  advance  of  18s.  upon 
the  original  cost."*  Another  eminent  authority  estimates 

*  "  Effect  of  Restrictions  on  the  Importation  of  Corn."  By  G.  R.  Porter. 
17 


194  HISTORY   OF    THE 

the  cost  of  importing  wheat  from  Dantzic,  warehousing  it 
here,  and  keeping  it  six  months  till  sold,  including  insurance, 
but  without  profit,  at  18s.  3d.  per  quarter.*  Mr.  M-Culloch, 
in  the  appendix  to  a  pamphlet  published  by  him  in  May, 
1841,  gives  an  account  of  the  charges  on  100  quarters  of 
wheat  imported  from  Dantzic  for  sale  on  consignment  in 
London,  in  May,  1841.  This  includes  the  expenses  of  its 
importation,  its  landing,  its  retention  for  three  weeks,  and  its 
delivery  to  the  buyer,  which  amount  in  the  aggregate  to  45Z. 
13s.  8d.,  and,  with  an  allowance  for  waste,  the  cost  would 
be  raised  507.  One  hundred  quarters  of  fine  high  mixed 
wheat,  weighing  about  61  Ibs.  per  bushel,  '<  would  cost,  by 
the  latest  advices,  40s.  per  quarter,  so  that  this  parcel  of 
wheat  could  not  be  sold  at  less  than  50s.  per  quarter,  and  to 
this  has  to  be  added  the  profit  of  the  importer,  which  at  10 
per  cent,  would  raise  the  price  to  54s.  the  quarter ;  and  a 
fixed  duty  of  8s.  would  further  increase  it  to  62s.  Wheat  is 
always  cheaper  in  Dantzic,  quality  considered,  than  in  any 
of  the  continental  ports  nearer  London  ;  and  Mr.  M-Culloch 
states  that,  whenever  there  is  a  demand  from  this  country 
for  150,000  or  200,000  quarters,  the  price  uniformly  rises  to 
40s.  the  quarter;  and  in  1839,  when  384,369  quarters  of 
wheat  were  shipped  at  Dantzic  for  England,  it  cost  the  ship- 
pers 45s.  to  55s.  per  quarter.  If  the  ports  of  this  country 
were  always  open,  it  may  be  concluded  that  the  price  of  good 
wheat  in  Dantzic,  in  ordinary  years,  would  not  be  under  45s. 
the  quarter.  "  But  taking  it  at  the  lowest  limit,  or  35s.,  and 
adding  to  it  10s.  or  12s.  for  the  freight  and  other  charges  at- 
tending its  conveyance  to  England,  and  its  sale  to  the  con- 
sumer, it  is  obvious  it  could  not  be  sold  here,  even  if  there 
were  no  duty,  for  less  than  from  45s.  to  47s.  a  quarter  ;" 
and  if  it  were  charged  with  a  fixed  duty  of  8s.  its  price  would 
be  raised  to  53s.  to  55s.  a  quarter.  Now,  during  the  ten 

*  Mr.  James  Wilson. — Tract  on  Corn  Laws. 


BRITISH   CORN-LAWS.  195 

years  ending  with  1840  the  average  price  of  wheat  in  Eng- 
land and  Wales  was  56s.  ll^d.  a  quarter.  In  five  of  these 
years  the  price  was  above  this  average,  and  in  the  other  five 
years  the  average  price  was  48.?.  6%d.  per  quarter.  Thus, 
since  the  law  of  1815,  which  assumed  the  average  remune- 
rating price  of  wheat  at  something  under  80s.  per  quarter, 
the  question  of"  protection"  has  been  considerably  narrowed, 
and  in  abundant  years  in  this  country  the  importation  of 
wheat  could  scarcely  be  profitable,  while  in  years  of  scarci- 
ty the  demand  would  raise  prices  abroad  and  check  them 
here  only  in  the  degree  in  which  they  had  risen  beyond  the 
ratio  of  the  deficiency.*  In  the  ten  years  ending  1820  the 
average  price  of  wheat  in  England  was  865.  3d.  the  quarter, 
and  in  the  ten  years  following  the  average  was  56s.  ll\d., 
and  yet  the  improvement  in  agriculture  has  been  so  great  as 
to  provide  food  for  one  third  more  population.  Mr.  Tooke 
says,f  that  during  the  three  years  (1834-5-6)  when  the  price 
of  wheat  in  this  country  was  on  an  average  under  45s., 
there  was  no  apparent  tendency  to  diminished  or  deteriorated 
cultivation. 

The  following  table,  showing  the  average  prices  of  wheat 
in  Prussia  and  in  England,  as  stated  in  the  Prussian  Official 
Gazette  and  in  the  London  Gazette,  from  1828  to  1837,  is  a 
proof  how  fallacious  are  the  fears  of  the  corn-growers  here 
as  to  the  probability  of  their  being  "  inundated"  with  Prus- 
sian wheat : — 


*  From  1832  to  18S5  the  average  yearly  import  of  wheat  was  125,200 
quarters,  the  average  price  in  the  home  market  being  49*.  4d.  In  1839  the 
crop  was  deficient  to  the  extent  of  probably  one  fifth  or  one  seventh  ;  the 
importations  of  wheat  amounted  to  2,681,390  quarters;  and  the  average 
price  of  the  period  was  70s.  Sd.,  or  nearly  double  the  price  of  the  four 
years  ending  1835. 

fHist.  of  Prices,  iii.  p.  50. 


196 


HISTORY    OF    THE 


Average  Prices 
in  Prussia  Proper, 
including 
Dantzic  and 
Konigsberg. 

Average 
Prices 
per 
London 
Gazette. 

Difference 
between 
English  Prices 
and  mean  of 
Prussian  Prices. 

Foreign  Wheat 
and  Flour 
consumed  in 
Great  Britain. 

s.    d. 

s.     d. 

s.     d. 

Quarters. 

1828 

27  2 

60     5 

32    5 

842,050 

1829 

32  3 

66     3 

32    7 

1,364,220 

1830 

29  6 

64     3 

32     6 

1,701,885 

1831 

39  6 

66     4 

27     1 

1,491,631 

1832 

34  0 

58     8 

24  11 

325,435 

Ib33 

25  0 

52  11 

28     8 

82,346 

1834 

23  9 

46     2 

21  10 

64,653 

1835 

23  0 

39     4 

15  10 

28,483 

1836 

21  0 

48     6 

26     6 

30,046 

1837 

22  6 

56  10 

32     7 

244,085 

With  a  difference  between  the  Prussian  and  English  prices 
in  1829-30-31  varying  from  27s.  Id.  to  32*.  Id.,  the  quan- 
tities of  wheat  brought  from  all  the  ports  of  Prussia  were  only 
353,906  quarters  in  1829  ;  517,844  quarters  in  1830  ;  and 
298,605  quarters  in  1831.  Prices  were  higher  in  Eng- 
land in  1839  than  in  1838,  and  yet  the  imports  from  Prussia 
were  above  an  eighth  less  than  in  the  previous  year. 

When  the  corn-growers  of  England  are  told  of  wheat  sell- 
ing in  Poland  at  145.  or  15s.  the  quarter,  they  would  do  well 
to  consider  the  cost  of  bringing  it  to  the  English  market. 
The  quantity  which  arrives  at  Dantzic  to  supply  any  urgent 
demand  is  brought  from  provinces  at  a  distance  of  from  500 
to  700  miles  inland  ;  and  Mr.  M'Culloch  states  that  in  No- 
vember, 1838,  when  wheat  sold  in  Dantzic  for  41s.  6rf.  a 
quarter,  it  was  selling  in  Lemberg,  the  principal  corn-market 
of  Galicia,  for  15s. — the  difference,  amounting  to  26s.  C>d., 
being  the  measure  of  the  cost  and  risk  of  conveyance  from 
Lemberg  to  Dantzic. 

The  following  account,  taken  from  Mr.  Jacob's  First  Re- 
port on  the  Corn  Trade,  succinctly  describes  the  operations 
attending  the  transport  of  wheat  from  the  interior  to  Dantzic. 

"  There  are,"  says  Mr.  Jacob,  "two  modes  of  conveying 


BRITISH   CORN-LAWS.  197 

wheat  to  Dantzic  by  the  Vistula.  That  which  grows  near 
the  lower  parts  of  the  river,  comprehending  Polish  Russia, 
and  part  of  the  province  of  Plock,  and  of  Masovia,  in  the 
kingdom  of  Poland,  which  is  generally  of  an  inferior  quality, 
is  conveyed  in  covered  boats,  with  shifting  boards  that  protect 
the  cargo  from  the  rain,  but  not  from  pilfering.  These  vessels 
are  long,  and  draw  about  fifteen  inches  water,  and  bring 
about  150  quarters  of  wheat.  They  are  not,  however,  so 
well  calculated  for  the  upper  parts  of  the  river.  From  Cra- 
cow, where  the  Vistula  first  becomes  navigable,  to  below  the 
junction  of  the  Bug  with  that  stream,  the  wheat  is  mostly 
conveyed  to  Dantzic  in  open  flats.  These  are  constructed 
on  the  banks,  in  seasons  of  leisure,  on  spots  far  from  the 
ordinary  reach  of  the  water,  but  which,  when  the  rains  of 
autumn,  or  the  melted  snow  of  the  Carpathian  mountains  in 
the  spring,  fill  and  overflow  the  river,  are  easily  floated. 
Barges  of  this  description  are  about  75  feet  long  and  20  broad, 
with  a  depth  of  2£  feet.  They  are  made  of  fir,  rudely  put 
together,  fastened  with  wooden  treenails,  the  corners  dovetail- 
ed and  secured  with  slight  iron  clamps — the  only  iron  em- 
ployed in  their  construction.  A  large  tree,  the  length  of 
the  vessel,  runs  along  the  bottom,  to  which  the  timbers  are 
secured.  This  roughly-cut  keelson  rises  nine  or  ten  inches 
from  the  floor,  and  hurdles  are  laid  on  it  which  extend  to 
the  sides.  They  are  covered  with  mats  made  of  rye  straw, 
and  serve  the  purpose  of  drainage,  leaving  below  a  space  in 
which  the  water  that  leaks  through  the  sides  and  bottom  is 
received.  The  bulk  is  kept  from  the  sides  and  ends  of  the 
barge  by  a  similar  plan.  The  water  which  these  ill  con- 
structed and  .imperfectly-caulked  vessels  receive  is  dipped 
out  at  the  end  and  sides  of  the  bulk  of  wheat.  Vessels  of 
this  description  draw  from  ten  to  twelve  inches  water,  and 
yet  they  frequently  get  aground  in  descending  the  river. 
The  cargoes  usually  consist  of  from  180  to  200  quarters  of 
wheat.  The  wheat  is  thrown  on  the  mats,  piled  as  high  aa 

17* 


198  HISTORY   OF    THE 

the  gunwale,  and  left  uncovered,  exposed  to  all  the  incle- 
mencies of  the  weather  and  to  the  pilfering  of  the  crew. 
During  the  passage  the  barge  is  carried  along  hy  the  force 
of  the  stream,  oars  being  merely  used  at  the  head  and  stern 
to  steer  clear  of  the  sand-banks,  which  are  numerous  and 
shifting,  and  to  direct  the  vessel  in  passing  under  the  several 
bridges.  These  vessels  are  conducted  by  six  or  seven  men. 
A  small  boat  precedes,  with  a  man  in  it,  who  is  employed 
sounding,  in  order  to  avoid  the  shifting  shoals.  This  mode 
of  navigation  is  necessarily  very  slow ;  and  during  the  pro- 
gress of  it,  which  lasts  several  weeks,  and  even  months,  the 
rain,  if  any  fall,  soon  causes  the  wheat  to  grow,  and  the  ves- 
sel assumes  the  appearance  of  a  floating  meadow.  The 
shooting  of  the  fibres  soon  forms  a  thick  mat,  and  prevents 
the  rain  from  penetrating  more  than  an  inch  or  two.  The 
bulk  is  protected  by  this  kind  of  covering,  and  when  that  is 
thrown  aside  is  found  in  tolerable  condition.  The  vessels 
are  broken  up  at  Dantzic,  and  usually  sell  for  about  two 
thirds  of  their  original  cost.  The  men  who  conduct  them 
return  on  foot. 

"  When  the  cargo  arrives  at  Dantzic  or  Elbing,  all  but 
the  grown  surface  is  thrown  on  the  land,  exposed  to  the  sun, 
and  frequently  turned  over,  till  any  slight  moisture  it  may 
have  imbibed  is  dried.  If  a  shower  of  rain  falls,  as  well  as 
during  the  night,  the  heaps  of  wheat  on  shore  are  thrown  to- 
gether in  the  form  of  a  steep  roof  of  a  house,  that  the  rain 
may  run  ofT,  and  are  covered  with  a  linen  cloth.  It  is  thus 
frequently  a  long  time  after  the  wheat  has  reached  Dantzic 
before  it  is  fit  to  be  placed  in  the  warehouses." 

The  corn-growing  districts  in  the  south-east  of  Europe, 
and  in  the  countries  bordering  the  Black  Sea,  export  their 
produce  by  the  Don,  the  Dniepr,  the  Dniestr,  and  the  Danube, 
or  by  land-carriage  to  Odessa  for  shipment  to  foreign  coun- 
tries, and  that  port  stands  in  the  same  relation  to  the  south 
of  Europe  as  Dantzic  does  to  the  northern  part.  The  prin- 


BRITISH    CORN-LAWS.  199 

cipal  supply  is  however  brought  to  the  town  in  carts  drawn 
by  oxen,  from  distances  varying  from  100  to  400  miles.  On 
an  average  of  the  seven  years  ending  1840  the  quantity 
brought  to  Odessa  amounted  to  only  17,760  quarters  annual- 
ly. During  1838-9-40  the  average  price  of  the  best  Odessa 
wheat  was  34s.  6d.  The  voyage  to  England  is  long,  and 
there  is  great  risk  of  the  grain  heating  ;  the  expenses  of  im- 
portation amount  to  15s.  or  16s.  and  even  205.  a  quarter ; 
and  it  could  not  be  sold  so  low  as  Dantzic  wheat,  which  is 
far  superior  to  the  former  in  quality.  The  corn-grower  of 
Wallachia,  Bulgaria,  or  Bessarabia,  though  he  sells  his  wheat, 
at  14s.  or  15s.  the  quarter,  cannot  compete  with  the  English 
grower  who  charges  upwards  of  50s.  Mr.  Jacob's  account 
of  the  manner  in  which  corn  is  transported  to  Odessa  shows 
the  physical  impossibility  of  this  competition  becoming  a  mat- 
ter of  anxiety  to  the  most  timid  agriculturist.  He  says :  "  The 
small  wagons  with  wheat  begin  to  arrive  at  Odessa  in  the  month 
of  May,  but  the  greater  portion  of  them  do  not  reach  that  place 
till  June  or  July.  Some  days  in  the  two  latter  months  present 
the  curious  spectacle  of  five  or  six  hundred,  and  occasionally 
of  even  a  thousand,  of  these  vehicles  entering  the  city.  Each 
of  the  wagons,  drawn  by  two  oxen,  carries  about  four  quar- 
ters ;*  so  that  in  the  year  1817,  when  the  trade  was  the  most 
extensive,  there  must  have  arrived,  supposing  three  fourths 
of  the  corn  to  have  been  brought  by  land-carriage,  about 
160,000  of  these  vehicles  in  the  six  months  from  May  to 
October.  In  a  country  where  the  labor  of  man  and  of  cattle, 
and  the  prices  of  the  bare  necessaries  of  life,  are  very  cheap, 
this  land-carriage  maintains  its  due  proportion  of  low  rate. 


*  It  has  been  recently  ascertained  that  each  of  the  wagons  conveys 
eight  sacks  of  wheat,  the  sack  containing  a  Polish  horsec,  equal  to  three 
bushels  and  one  peck,  Winchester  measure.  The  load  of  two  oxen  is 
thus  three  quarters  and  two  bushels,  instead  of  four  quarters,  as  here  cal- 
culated. The  cost  of  conveyance,  therefore,  will  amount  to  about  one 
fifth  more  than  appears  by  the  extract. 


200  HISTORY   OF   THE 

Two  oxen  cannot  travel  over  such  rugged  hills  and  deep 
sands  as  are  to  be  found  between  the  corn-growing  districts 
and  Odessa,  when  drawing  a  ton  weight,  at  a  greater  rate 
than  ten  English  miles  per  day.  Each  hundred  miles  will 
thus  require  ten  days'  work  for  two  oxen  and  one  man  to 
proceed  to  the  port,  and  about  seven  days  to  discharge  the 
loading  and  to  return  with  the  empty  carriage.  The  rate  of 
hire  for  a  man  and  two  oxen  is,  at  least  in  Podolia,  6d.  per 
day.  Where  pasture  is  abundant  the  oxen  may  be  fed  for  a 
mere  trifle ;  but  in  the  journey  of  near  100  miles  across  the 
steppes,  in  the  months  when  the  greater  number  of  carriages 
pass  over  it,  the  vegetation  is  wholly  burnt  up,  which,  with 
the  scarcity  of  water,  must  cause  some  expense  in  the  main- 
tenance of  the  cattle.  If  for  their  food  and  water  an  allow. 
ance  be  made  of  Is.  6d.  for  the  seventeen  days,  and  it  be  added 
to  the  hire  of  the  man  and  the  oxen,  it  will  make  the  cost  of 
conveyance  for  the  four  quarters  of  wheat  amount  to  2s. 
Gd.  per  quarter  for  each  hundred  miles."  The  labor  of 
many  years,  and  the  outlay  of  capital  which  has  yet  to  be 
created,  will  be  required  before  these  difficulties  will  be  over- 
come, and  the  cost  of  transport  diminished  by  good  roads  and 
other  facilities. 

The  following  table  shows  the  countries  which  are  ca- 
pable of  furnishing  us  with  wheat,  and  the  quantities  which 
they  supplied  us  during  three  successive  years  of  high  prices. 


BRITISH    CORX-LAWS. 


201 


AN  ACCOTJNT  of  the  Quantities  of  Foreign  and  Colonial  Wheat 
and  Wheat-Flour  brought  into  Consumption  in  the  United 
Kingdom ;  stating  the  Quantities  Imported  from  each 
Country  during  each  Year  from  1837  to  1839. 


COUNTRIES  FROM  WHICH  IMPORTED. 

1837. 

1838. 

1839. 

Qrs. 
3,903 

Qrs. 
141,656 

Qrs. 
356,164 

Sweden  and  Norway  

252 

358 

567 

Denmark  

7,444 

147,728 

202,927 

Prussia                   .    .  .        

148,077 

839,513 

704,992 

Germany  :  — 

36,498 

147,383 

104,777 

Hanover     

125 

24,359 

19,185 

15,201 

16,698 

Hanse  Towns  

10,637 

204,563 

267,183 

Holland  

2,222 

82,737 

117,677 

Belgium.              

153 

18,284 

24,516 

France  

202 

65,012 

309,897 

Portugal,  Madeira,  and  the  Azores  
Spain  and  the  Canaries  

"  2 

1,279 

28,800 
9,010 

Gibraltar     ...         .    ...        

4,753 

Italy        

1,011 

55,735 

333,313 

Malta 

14,956 

17,211 

Ionian  Islands  

5,391 

13,583 

Turkey  and  Egypt  

258 

5,515 

45,483 

Morocco  

3,358 

Cape  of  Good  Hope  

520 

3 

East  India  Company's  Territories  
N.  S.  Wales  &  Van  Diemen's  Land... 
British  North  American  Colonies  

7,516 
117 
25,745 
112 

9,649 
4 

19,597 
27047 

5,015 

7,764 
87,528 

Isles  of  Guernsey,  Jersey,  Alderney,  ) 
and  Man  (Foreign  Produce)  £ 
All  other  parts  

1 

21,906 

84 

30,383 
929 

Total  

244,275 

1,848,477 

2,711,725 

It  will  be  seen  from  this  table  that  the  importations  from 
the  United  States,  British  North  America,  and  other  distant 
corn-growing  countries,  are  quite  insignificant,  under  the 
uncertainties  of  a  fluctuating  duty.  The  risks  of  the  trade 
are  so  great  as  to  present  few  inducements  to  the  merchant; 
and  when  purchases  of  corn  are  made  to  supply  our  wants, 
it  is  not  the  surplus  stock  raised  for  the  English  market  that 


202  HISTORY  OF  THE  BRITISH  CORN-LAWS. 

we  obtain,  but  we  enter  into  competition  with  the  foreign  con- 
sumer, and  our  necessities  compel  us  to  out-bid  him  in  his 
own  market.  If  the  trade  were  always  open,  England  would 
become,  as  Holland  was  in  the  seventeenth  century,  the 
great  entrepot  of  the  corn-producing  countries  throughout  the 
world  :  large  purchases  would  be  made  in  abundant  years, 
and  ourselves  as  well  as  other  European  countries  would  be 
supplied  by  our  merchants  in  years  of  scarcity.  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  remarked  that  "  a  dearth  of  only  one  year  in  any 
part  of  Europe  enriches  Holland  for  seven  years  ;"  and  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  a  new  and  very  important  branch  of 
commerce  would  spring  up  if  England  attracted  to  its  ports 
the  surplus  produce  of  grain  in  the  different  parts  of  the 
world. 


THE   CORN   TRADE.  203 


CHAPTER    XI. 

THE  CORN  TRADE  FROM  1838  TO  1841.* 

THE  admission  of  foreign  corn  and  grain  for  home  con- 
sumption takes  place  under  a  scale  of  duties  which  fluctuates 
with  the  aggregate  prices  taken  in  one  hundred  and  fifty 
market  towns,  situated  in  different  parts  of  the  country. 
When  the  price  of  wheat  in  these  towns  is  66*.  on  an  aver- 
age of  six  weeks,  the  duty  is  20.?.  8d.  per  quarter,  and  for 
every  shilling  which  the  price  falls,  the  duty  advances  one 
shilling ;  but  when  the  average  price  is  higher  than  65s.,  a 
different  application  of  the  sliding  scale  takes  place,  and 
the  duty  moves  more  rapidly  to  a  lower  point.  At  67s.  the 
duty  falls  2s.,  that  is,  to  18s.  8d. ;  at  68s.  it  is  16s.  3d.  ; 
at  69s.  it  is  13s.  3d.  •  and  at  70s.  it  again  descends  3s.,  to 
10s.  3d. ;  at  71s.  it  is  6s.  8d. ;  at  72s.  another  fall  of  4s. 
takes  place,  and  the  duty  is  2s.  8d. ;  and  at  73s.  it  sinks  to 
the  lowest  point,  being  only  Is.  per  quarter.  Thus,  while 
prices  advance  from  66s.  to  73s.,  being  a  rise  of  7s.,  the  duty 
falls  from  20s.  8d.  to  Is.,  being  a  decline  of  19s.  3d. 

The  one  hundred  and  fifty  towns  in  which  the  average 
prices  are  taken  for  regulating  the  admission  of  foreign  corn 
are  intended  as  a  fair  medium  for  representing  the  general 
average  wants  of  the  country,  and  may  be  divided  into  sev- 
eral classes  : — 1 .  Towns  in  which  large  transactions  of  a 

*  This  chapter  is  derived  chiefly  from  the  Companion  to  the  British 
Almanac  for  1842- 


204  TIIE   CORN   TRADE. 

speculative  nature  take  place,  as  London,  Liverpool,  Hull, 
Newcastle,  and  other  ports  in  which  foreign  corn  is  bond- 
ed. 2.  Seats  of  manufacturing  industry,  which  draw  their 
supplies  from  a  considerable  distance,  as  Manchester,  Leeds, 
Sheffield,  &c.  3.  Towns  of  interchange,  such  as  Wake- 
field,  which  serve  as  an  emporium  for  the  agricultural  and 
manufacturing  parts  of  the  adjacent  districts.  4.  Market 
towns  situated  in  a  purely  agricultural  district,  where  the 
sales  are  made  in  eveiy  instance  by  the  producer,  and  not, 
as  in  three  other  classes  of  towns,  chiefly  by  factors.  The 
produce  of  each  district  sells  eventually  for  the  same  price 
in  the  last  market  which  it  reaches  before  consumption,  but 
the  greater  cost  of  bringing  it  there  necessarily  reduces  the 
price  to  a  lower  point  in  those  markets  which  are  distant 
than  in  those  which  are  close  at  hand.  In  the  centre  of  Lin- 
colnshire, for  example,  prices  will  necessarily  be  lower  than 
in  the  agricultural  parts  of  the  West  Riding  of  Yorkshire, 
which  adjoin  the  clothing  districts,  for  whose  consumption 
their  respective  produce  is  ultimately  destined.  The  agri- 
cultural market  towns  may  therefore  be  subdivided  into  two 
or  three  classes,  as  those  which  are  more  or  less  near  a  mass 
of  non-agricultural  consumers,  also  into  those  which  are 
situated  in  a  rich  and  fertile  district,  or  one  in  which  the 
production  of  grain  is  limited. 

It  is  evident  that  by  altering  the  proportions  of  these 
different  classes  of  towns  the  stringency  of  the  scale  of 
duties  may  either  be  increased  or  diminished,  that  is,  the 
advance  of  prices  to  the  point  when  the  lowest  duty  is 
chargeable  may  be  either  accelerated  or  retarded.  If  some 
of  the  largest  grain  markets  in  Norfolk,  Suffolk,  Cambridge, 
and  Lincolnshire  were  struck  out  of  the  list,  the  preponder- 
ating influence  of  London,  Liverpool,  Hull,  Wakefield,  and 
other  markets  where  the  supplies  of  grain  are  brought  from 
a  distance  and  pass  through  several  hands,  would  raise  the 


THE  COIIN   TEADH.  205 

averages  and  lower  the  duty ;  and  if  these  latter  places 
were  struck  out,  the  effect  would  be  exactly  reversed.  As 
the  average  prices  are  determined  by  adding  together  the 
total  quantities  of  each  sort  of  corn  sold  in  the  one  hundred 
and  fifty  towns,  next  the  total  prices,  and  then  dividing  the 
total  amount  of  such  prices  by  the  total  quantity  of  corn 
sold,  it  follows  that  those  markets  in  which  the  largest  quan- 
tities are  sold  have  the  greatest  effect  upon  the  general 
averages  of  the  kingdom.  In  the  week  ending  10t.h  Sep- 
tember, 1811,  when  the  duty  was  brought  down  to  Is.,  the 
quantity  sold  in  the  London  market  was  12,301  quarters, 
at  an  average  of  76*.  9d.,  or  more  than  one-sixth  of  the 
whole  quantity  returned.  Above  one  half  (36,849  quarters) 
of  the  total  number  of  quarters  sold  were  returned  from  the 
following  places  : — 

Quarters.         s.      d. 

London  12,301         76     9 

8,662         74    2 


Wakefield 

Leeds 

Hull 

Liverpool 

Newcastle 

Derby 


6,741  73 

3,604  75     6 

2,196  71     5 

1,889  76    2 

1,456  74  11 


The  average  prices  of  the  above  seven  places  were  755. 
OifZ.  the  quarter,  the  remaining  36,066  quarters  sold  at  the 
one  hundred  and  forty-three  other  towns  averaged  67s.  8|<Z. 
the  quarter,  and  the  general  average  for  the  whole  of  Eng- 
land and  Wales  was  71s.  2d.  At  Huntingdon,  Wisbeach, 
Boston,  and  Cambridge,  where  3,859  quarters  of  wheat  were 
sold,  the  average  prices  varied  from  61s.  5d.  to  62s.  Thus 
the  same  scale  of  duties  may  be  made  to  operate  very  dif- 
ferently, by  adding  to  the  number  of  agricultural  markets, 
or  striking  out  some  of  those  in  the  manufacturing  districts 
or  in  the  mining  counties  of  Cornwall  and  Durham.  The 
geographical  position  of  the  one  hundred  and  fifty  towns 
making  returns  has  also  its  influence.  Eighty-three  of 
18 


206  THE    CORN    TRADE. 

these  towns  are  situated  south  of  the  line  drawn  from  the 
Severn  to  the  Wash ;  forty  are  between  this  line  and  one 
drawn  from  the  Humber  to  the  Mersey ;  and  thirty-seven 
towns  are  situated  north  of  these  two  rivers.  The  earlier 
harvest  of  the  southern  and  midland  counties  produces  an 
effect  upon  the  averages  before  any  of  the  new  supplies 
reach  the  markets  situated  in  the  northern  portion  of  the 
kingdom.  The  time  when  the  duty  reached  the  lowest  point 
which  it  attained  in  the  last  four  years  was  September  13th, 
1838;  September  5th,  1839;  September  3d,  1840;  and 
September  10th,  1841  ;  which  is  just  before  the  arrival  of 
new  wheat  of  English  growth  has  become  sufficiently  large 
to  depress  prices  materially,  and  the  corn-growers  of  the 
southern  and  eastern  counties,  which  have  easy  access  to 
the  London  market,  obtain  the  advantage  of  the  highest 
range  of  prices ;  but  before  the  farmers  of  the  northern 
counties  have  threshed  out  any  portion  of  their  crops,  the 
foreign  wheat  in  bond  has  been  liberated,  and  the  farmers' 
supply  of  new  wheat  does  not  reach  the  markets  until  after 
the  depression  of  prices  occasioned  by  the  sudden  influx  of 
foreign  wheat. 

Under  the  present  arrangement  the  high  prices  of  the 
large  towns  are  balanced  by  the  lower  prices  of  the  agricul- 
tural districts,  and  though  the  averages  in  the  former  may 
bo  so  high  as  to  reach  beyond  the  point  when  foreign  corn 
is  admissible  at  a  duty  of  Is.  the  quarter,  yet,  until  the 
scarcity  extends  to  the  remotest  parts  of  the  country,  and 
the  general  averages  are  raised,  this  foreign  supply  is  kept 
out  of  the  home  market.  In  years  of  scarcity  the  field  of 
supply  from  which  such  a  town  as  Leeds  obtains  bread-corn 
is  considerably  extended,  and  part  of  the  high  price  is  oc- 
casioned by  the  additional  cost  of  transport.  As  prices  rise, 
the  most  distant  markets  are  resorted  to,  and  then,  the  aver- 
ages of  the  whole  kingdom  being  sufficiently  raised  by  the 


THE    COEN    TRADE.  207 

intenseness  of  the  demand,  the  duty  falls,  and  foreign  sup- 
plies are  admitted  for  home  consumption.  At  one  period 
during  the  present  century  England  was  divided  into  twelve 
maritime  districts,  in  any  of  which  importation  might  take 
place,  while  in  the  adjoining  district  it  was  prohibited,  each 
district  being  regulated  by  its  own  averages.  The  object 
of  this  arrangement  was  to  afford  facilities  for  supplying  the 
wants  of  distinct  sections  of  the  country,  and  to  prevent  their 
suffering  unnecessarily  from  high  prices.  It  was  introduced 
at  a  tim?  when  the  means  of  inland  transport  were  less  per- 
fect than  now,  and  before  the  system  of  "  protection"  had 
taken  such  deep  root. 

It  has  been  proposed  to  strike  out  from  the  list  of  towns 
which  make  returns,  such  places  as  London,  Liverpool, 
Newcastle,  Hull,  &c.,  on  the  ground  that  in  those  markets 
fictitious  sales  are  made  by  parties  interested  in  getting 
foreign  corn  out  of  bond  at  the  lowest  rate  of  duty ;  and 
that  the  speculation  which  takes  place  in  the  corn  trade  is 
nearly  all  carried  on  at  these  ports.  To  what  extent  fic- 
titious sales  are  made  with  the  object  alleged  it  is  impossible 
to  say,  but  the  fluctuating  scale  offers  the  greatest  tempta- 
tion to  such  a  practice.  Supposing  there  are  800,000 
quarters  of  wheat  under  bond  in  the  ports  of  London, 
Liverpool,  Hull,  Newcastle,  and  two  or  three  other  places, 
and  the  average  price  is  66s.,  the  duty  is  accordingly  20s. 
8d.,  which  on  800,000  quarters  would  amount  to  826,0007. 
If  the  average  price  can  be  raised  only  7s.  higher  per 
quarter,  the  duty  would  only  amount  to  40,0007.,  making  a 
difference  to  the  holders  of  upwards  of  1,000,0007.,  namely 
786,0007.  by  the  fall  in  the  duty,  and  280,0007.  by  the  ad- 
vance of  prices.  The  construction  of  the  present  sliding 
scale  is  eminently  calculated  to  encourage  fraud  by  the 
large  gains  which  it  places  in  the  hands  of  speculators  in 
foreign  corn.  Up  to  66s.  the  duty  only  decreases  Is.  for 


208  THE    CORN    TRADE. 

every  shilling  increase  in  price  ;  but  from  66s.  to  68*.  the 
fall  of  duty  is  2*. ;  from  68s.  to  70*.  the  duty  declines  3-s. 
for  each  shilling  that  the  average  prices  advance  ;  from  71s. 
to  72s.  the  duty  falls  4s.  for  each  shilling  that  the  price 
advances.  Thus  at  this  stage  an  advance  of  a  single  shil- 
ling gives  the  holder  of  foreign  wheat  an  additional  profit 
of  5s.  per  quarter,  of  which  4s.  consists  in  the  fall  of  the 
duty. 

A  comparison  of  the  returns  made  by  the  corn  dealers  in 
the  London  market  at  corresponding  periods  of  two  different 
years,  in  one  of  which  the  ports  were  already  open  at  the 
low  duty,  and  in  the  other  when  prices  were  advancing 
preparatory  to  that  event,  shows  that  the  transactions  of  the 
two  periods  were  on  a  very  different  scale ;  though  it  must 
be  remarked  that  just  after  a  large  supply  had  been  thrown 
on  the  market  it  was  to  be  expected  that  there  would  not  be 
so  great  a  demand  as  when  prices  were  advancing  and  the 
demand  was  greater  than  the  supply.  A  parliamentary  paper 
(383,  Sess.  1841)  shows  that  in  the  six  weeks  ending  27th 
Aug.  1830,  only  21.630  quarters  were  returned  as  being  sold 
in  the  London  market  during  the  whole  of  this  period  ;  but  in 
the  corresponding  period  of  1840,  whentheduty  was  sinkingto 
the  lowest  point  which  it  attained  during  the  year,  the  returns 
of  wheat  sold  in  the  six  weeks  amounted  to  89,448  quarters. 
In  the  former  period  the  difference  between  the  average 
price  of  the  London  market  and  that  of  all  the  other  mar- 
kets  in  England  and  Wales  was  never  higher  than  2s.  Id. 
nor  lower  than  9d.,  but  in  the  latter  period  the  difference 
was  never  less  than  6s.  3d.,  and  was  as  high  as  8s.  6d. 
The  following  table  will  show  the  effect  which  the  London 
market  had  on  the  average  prices  by  which  the  duty  is 
regulated  : — • 


THE    CORN    TRADE. 


209 


LONDON  MARKET. 

KINGDOM. 

Six  Weeks 

~1 
Actual     Durywiiicn 

of   the 

Weekly    ,  would  have 

Weeks 
ended. 

Number 
of 
d  Liar. 

Average 
Price. 

Average 
Price. 

Kingdom, 
exclusive 
of"  the 
London 
Market. 

Duty 
including 
the 
London 
Market. 

been  paid, 
exclusive 
of  the 
London 
Market. 

s.      d. 

s.      d. 

S.      d. 

s.     d. 

s.      d. 

24  July 

11,235 

79     4 

71     4 

70      1 

6    8 

10     8 

31  .     . 

14,960 

80    5 

71  11 

70     6 

6    8 

10     8 

7  Aug. 

19,500 

80    2 

72  10 

71     2 

2    8 

6     8 

14  .     . 

12,613 

73     5 

72     4 

71     3 

2    8 

6     8 

21  .     . 

15,703 

78  10 

72     7 

71     8 

2     8 

6    8 

28  .     . 

15,437 

79     6 

72     4 

70  10 

2     8 

6    8 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  above  table  that,  if  the  London 
averages  had  been  struck  out,  the  duty  on  importation  would 
have  been  4*.  the  quarter  higher.  In  1841,  in  the  week 
when  the  duty  was  brought  to  the  lowest  point,  there  were 
12,301  quarters  returned  as  sold  in  the  London  market  at 
76.s.  9d.,  but  in  the  week  after  this  had  been  accomplished 
only  4,675  quarters  were  returned,  and  the  average  price 
was  65*.  Wd.  In  the  first  of  these  weeks  one  half  the 
quantity  returned  from  the  whole  kingdom  was  represented 
to  have  been  sold  in  London  and  six  other  towns,  but  the 
returns  for  the  following  week  showed  that  considerably  less 
than  one  third  of  the  former  quantity  was  sold  in  these  seven 
places.  If  fictitious  sales  are  made  with  the  object  of 
reaching  the  lowest  rate  of  duty,  the  effect  of  such  an  oper- 
ation is  to  diminish  the  stringency  of  the  sliding  scale,  for, 
while  the  average  price  is  represented  to  be  735.,  and  the 
duty  Is.,  the  price  would  be  considerably  lower  if  the  Lon- 
don average  were  excluded,  and  the  duty  would  of  course 
be  higher.  If  the  alleged  returns  of  fictitious  sales  could 
be  effectually  suppressed,  the  effect  even  of  a  lower  scale 
would  be  precisely  the  same  as  a  higher  scale  worked  by 
dealers  desirous  of  forcing  down  the  duties.  If  the  scale 
should  be  left  as  it  now  stands,  arid  all  tampering  with  the 

18* 


210  THE   CORN   TRADE. 

returns  could  be  prevented,  the  stringency  of  the  law  would 
he  greatly  increased,  as  fictitious  sales  have,  it  is  believed, 
always  attended  its  operation. 

The  fluctuating  scale  was  preceded  by  a  system  under 
which  no  importation  was  allowed  to  take  place  until  prices 
reached  a  certain  height,  which  by  the  Act  of  1815  was 
fixed  at  80s.,  when  the  ports  were  opened  and  foreign  wheat 
was  admitted  without  payment  of  any  duty.  In  the  Act 
of  1822  (which  never  came  into  operation)  the  price  when 
importation  was  allowed  was  reduced  to  70s.,  but  the  fol- 
lowing scale  of  duties  accompanied  this  pretended  relaxation 
of  the  law  :  namely,  125.  per  quarter,  with  5s.  additional 
for  the  first  three  months  of  the  ports  being  open  ;  and  if 
prices  rose  above  70s.,  and  were  under  80s.,  the  duty  was 
to  be  lowered  to  5s.,  with  the  addition  of  5s.  for  the  first 
three  months  after  the  alteration ;  and  above  80s.  the  duty 
was  fixed  at  Is.  The  present  sliding  scale,  it  was  con- 
tended,  was  a  great  improvement  of  the  Acts  of  1815  and 
1822,  as  under  it  importation  might  take  place  at  any  time 
on  payment  of  the  current  rate  of  duty.  The  following 
table  shows  the  quantities  of  foreign  wheat  admitted  at  dif- 
ferent rates  of  duty  from  the  passing  of  the  Act  to  the  5th 
January,  1841. 


THE    CORN    TRADE. 


211 


Quantities  of  wheat  and  wheat  flour  entered  for  home  con- 
sumption from  the  passing  of  the  Act  9  Geo.  IV.  c.  GO. 
(15th  July,  1828  to  5th  January,  1841)  : — 


Rates  of  Duty. 

Wheat. 

Wheat  Flour. 

Rates  of  Duty. 

Wheat. 

Wheat  Flour. 

s.    d. 

Qrs. 

Cwts. 

S.      d. 

Qrs. 

Cwts. 

1    0  per  Qr. 

3,907,981 

1,276,731 

40    SperQr. 

3 

28,. 

2,788,277 

835,406 

42    8 

7 

3 

68,, 

1,994,102 

518,897 

43    8 

4 

7 

10    8      . 

783,280 

238,592 

44    8 

16 

13 

13    8      , 

548,348 

466,432 

45    8 

62 

33 

16    8 

298.077 

213,707 

46    8 

10 

155 

18    8      , 

76,200 

44,788 

47     8 

7 

17 

20    8      , 

377,667 

96,538 

48    8 

3 

2 

21     8      , 

107,006 

5,861 

49    8 

2 

36 

22    8      i 

13,664 

5,940 

50    8 

8 

56 

23    8      i 

138,775 

56,580 

Admitted    at 

24    8      „ 

37,329 

2,070 

an  ad  valo- 

•25   8 

27,153 

1,555 

rem     Duty, 

26    8      ! 

4,724 

654 

being  daitid. 

2,629 

27    8      „ 

1,882 

690 

Duty  free,do. 

350 

•28    8      ! 

134,275 

1,377 

Duty  free,  for 

29    8      ! 

61,649 

101 

Seed     -    - 

71 

30    8 

13955 

756 

31    8 

32    8 

1,496 
41)2 

87 
63 

Total  - 

11,322,085 

3,768,335 

33    8 

908 

511 

Colonial. 

34    8      „ 

385 

164 

35    8      „ 

154 

24 

s.    d. 

3G    8      i 

326 

42 

0    6  per  Ur. 

129,858 

426,809 

37    8      „ 

314 

24 

50,, 

393,407 

506,996 

38    8 

154 

72 

39    8      " 

151 

5~\ 

Total   - 

523.2(15 

1,023,805 

From  this  table  it  appears  that,  out  of  11,322,085  quar- 
ters of  wheat  imported  in  the  course  of  twelve  years  and  a 
half,  nearly  nine  millions  and  a  half  were  admitted  when 
the  prices  were  above  705.  the  quarter,  or  above  eighty 
quarters  out  of  every  hundred,  the  whole  quantity  admitted 
when  the  prices  were  below  70s.  being  1,848,445  quarters. 
If  importation  had  been  entirely  prohibited  when  prices 
in  the  home  market  were  under  70s.,  the  effect  would 
have  been  very  little  different  from  that  which  has  taken 
place  under  a  system  which  at  all  times  nominally  permits 
importation. 

At  the  end  of  August,  1838,  there  were  919,855  quarters 


212  THE    CORN    TRADE. 

of  wheat  in  bond,  but,  although  the  weekly  average  price 
was  74s.  5d.  the  quarter,  only  4,930  quarters  were  entered 
for  home  consumption.  The  six  weeks'  averages  for  the 
last  week  in  August  were  72*.  lid.,  and  consequently  only 
one  penny  under  the  rate  at  which  the  duty  would  be  at  Is. ; 
but,  instead  of  the  holders  of  bonded  corn  liberating  their 
stock  at  the  current  duty,  which  was  then  2s.  8d.,they  with- 
held it  for  another  week,  when  it  fell  to  Is.,  and  1,261,894 
quarters  were  then  taken  out  of  bond.  In  the  second  week 
in  September  the  duty  again  rose  to  2s.  8d.,  and  before  the 
end  of  the  month  was  16s.  Sd.  In  1839  the  same  thing 
took  place.  In  August  the  average  price  for  the  month 
being  71s.  8d.,  the  entries  of  foreign  wheat  for  home  con- 
sumption were  only  4,268  quarters,  though  the  stock  in  bond 
at  the  end  of  the  month  was  384,984  quarters.  In  Septem- 
ber the  duty  descended  to  6s.  8d.,  being  the  lowest  point  for 
that  year,  and  812,738  quarters  were  admitted.  Again,  in 
1840,  the  stock  of  bonded  wheat  at  the  end  of  July  \va.s 
787,105  quarters,  and  although  the  average  price  for  the 
month  was  69s.  9^.,  only  25,611  quarters  were  entered  for 
home  consumption;  but  in  the  first  week  of  September 
1,217.860  quarters  were  entered,  the  duty  having  fallen 
from  16s.  8d.  to  2s.  8d.  In  1841  supplies  were  in  like 
manner  withheld  until  the  duty  reached  the  lowest  point, 
at  which  it  remained  for  orle  week,  when  the  whole  quantity 
in  bond  was  liberated.  The  rapid  manner  in  which  the 
duty  falls  after  the  six  weeks'  averages  exceed  70s.  gives 
such  large  profits  to  those  who  hold  bonded  stock,  that  no 
surprise  can  exist  as  to  its  operation  in  causing  supplies  to 
be  withheld. 

At  the  period  when  importation  was  entirely  prohibited 
unless  prices  rose  above  80s.,  and  by  the  Act  of  1822  above 
70s.,  there  was  less  necessity  than  under  the  present  system 
lor  hurrying  into  the  foreign  market  with  breathless  haste 


THE    COHN    TRADE.  213 

and  buying  at  enormous  prices  in  order  to  catch  the  market 
at  the  proper  point.  Previous  to  1815,  the  six  weeks'  aver- 
ages for  regulating  importation  were  only  struck  four  times 
a  year,  and  the  ports,  being  once  opened,  continued  so  for 
at  least  three  months,  and  could  not  be  closed,  even  though 
prices  declined,  until  the  next  quarterly  averages  were 
struck.  In  1815,  this  arrangement  was  still  adopted,  though 
with  some  modification  ;  for  if,  within  six  weeks  after  the 
quarterly  averages  had  been  struck  which  opened  the  ports, 
prices  should  decline  below  805.,  (the  free  importation  price,) 
supplies  were  excluded  from  ports  situated  between  the 
river  Eyder  in  Denmark,  and  the  Bidassoa  in  Spain.  But 
distant  markets  could  be  resorted  to  with  more  confidence 
than  under  the  present  scale. 

In  one  year  (1838)  the  duty  underwent  thirty-five  varia- 
tions. On  the  19th  of  July  it  was  20s.  8d.,  on  September 
13th  Is.,  and  on  October  llth  again  20s.  8d.  Now,  under 
the  Acts  of  1815  and  1822,  the  duty  would  have  remained 
fixed  for  three  months  after  prices  had  reached  the  importa- 
tion price  ;  but  in  1838  it  was  only  for  a  single  week  at  Is., 
rising  each  successive  week  from  Is.  to  2s.  8d.,  10s.  8d., 
16s.  8d.,  20s.  8d.,  21s.  8d.,  until,  on  October  25th,  it  was 
22s.  8d.  Be  fore  the  middle  of  December,  in  the  same  year,  it 
again  descended  to  Is. ;  but  at  this  season  of  the  year,  with 
the  ports  of  the  Baltic  closed,  the  quantity  brought  into  con- 
sumption was  too  small  to  effect  much  reduction  in  the 
price,  and  the  duty  remained  at  Is.  until  March  22d, 
1839.  In  1840  the  lowest  duty  was  2s.  8d.,  but  it  only 
continued  at  that  rate  for  one  week,  and  five  weeks  after- 
wards it  was  at  20s.  8d.  In  1841  the  duty  was  again  Is. 
only  for  a  single  week,  namely,  for  the  week  ending  Sep- 
tember 17th  ;  on  the  following  successive  weeks  it  advanced 
to  2s.  8cZ.,  10s.  8d..  16g.  8d.,  20s.  8d.,  and  on  the  15th  of 
October  was  22s.  8d.  If  persons  engaged  in  the  corn  trade 


214  THE    CORN    TRADE. 

endeavor  to  ascertain  the  productiveness  of  foreign  harvests 
and  the  defects  of  our  own,  and  from  the  superabundance  of 
the  former,  attempt  to  supply  the  deficiency  of  the  latter, 
they  must  be  indemnified  by  large  profits  for  the  risks  which 
attend  an  uncertain  market.  If  the  competition  of  buyers 
in  the  adjacent  continental  markets  deter  them,  and  foresee- 
ing the  scarcity,  they  give  orders  to  their  correspondents  in 
the  United  States  of  America  to  ship  flour  for  England,  it 
may  be  found  that  a  difference  of  a  fortnight  in  point  of 
time  has  excluded  the  supply  from  this  distant  source  en- 
tirely from  the  English  market,  and  it  must  either  be  bonded 
at  a  considerable  cost,  or  the  importer  must  wait  an  indefinite 
time  for  its  release,  or  ship  his  cargo  elsewhere.  On  the 
1st  of  March,  1831,  the  duty  was  Is.,  and  it  never  reached 
the  same  point  again  until  September,  1838  ;  and  from  July, 
1831,  to  19th  July,  1838,  it  was  never  below  20s.  8d. 
During  the  whole  of  these  seven  years  there  were  constantly 
from  600,000  to  900,000  quarters  of  foreign  wheat  in  the 
bonded  warehouses  waiting  until  the  market  became  profit- 
able. It  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  country  is  supplied  un- 
der this  arrangement  at  the  dearest  possible  rate,  and  in  such 
a  manner  as  almost  to  render  it  totally  impracticable  for  that 
interchange  of  commodities  to  take  place  which  would  ensue 
under  a  steadier  system.  If  the  demand  for  foreign  wheat 
were  only  temporary,  and  sprung  up  only  in  seasons  of 
extraordinary  scarcity,  there  might  be  some  ground  for  leav- 
ing the  trade  in  its  present  unsatisfactory  state  ;  but  it  is  now 
clear  that,  except  in  a  succession  of  abundant  years,  we  must 
resort  to  other  countries,  and  advantage  should  be  taken  of 
this  necessity  to  create  a  demand  for  our  manufactures,  which 
can  never  grow  out  of  the  present  manner  in  which  we  enter 
foreign  markets  as  purchasers  of  their  agricultural  produce. 
The  following  abstract  from  a  parliamentary  return,  shoAV- 
ing  the  annual  average  importation  of  foreign  sand  colonial 


THE    CORN    TRADE. 


215 


wheat  in  each  consecutive  period  of  ten  years,  from  1760 
to  1840,  is  a  proof  of  the  increasing  dependence  of  this 
country  upon  other  parts  of  the  world  : — 


Years. 
1761—70 
1771—80 
1781—90 
1791—00 
1801—10 
1811—20 
1821—30 
1831—40 


Average  Annual  Importation. 
94,089  Qrs. 
111,372 
143,292 
470,342 
555,959 
429,076 
534,762 
908,118 


Thus,  it  is  clear  that  we  must  enter  the  foreign  market, 
and  the  question  is  whether  we  shall  do  so  on  terms  advan- 
tageous or  disadvantageous  to  ourselves.  But  whenever  we 
become  extensive  purchasers  of  foreign  corn,  the  uncertain- 
ties of  the  fluctuating  scale  compel  us  to  resort  chiefly  to 
the  nearest  poi'ts  instead  of  the  general  markets  of  the  world, 
and  competition  being  confined,  we  can  only  obtain  sup- 
plies at  excessively  high  prices.  The  following  abstract  of 
a  parliamentary  return  shows  the  quantity  of  wheat  import- 
ed in  four  different  years  from  the  countries  from  which  we 
derive  the  largest  supply. 

In  1835  only  a  small  supply  was  required,  and  in  two 
of  the  other  years  we  bought  up  as  large  a  stock  as  could 
possibly  be  spared  : — 


Quantities  of  Wheat  Imported  into 
Great  Britain  from 

Total   import 
from  the  three 
Countries. 

Average 
Prices  of 
Wheat  in 
Great  Brit- 
ain per 
Quarter. 

Prussia. 

Germany. 

Holland. 

1835 

1838 
1839 
1840 

Qrs. 
13,891 
547,325 
729,677 

769,792 

Qrs. 
13,062 
309,458 
403,515 

35:2,959 

Qrs. 
8 
82,011 
115,595 

44,147 

Qrs. 

26,961 
938,794 

1,248,787 
1,166,898 

s.     d. 
39     4 
64     7 
70     8 
66    4 

216 


THE   CORN   TRADE. 


The  effect  of  this  unsteadiness  of  demand  in  a  limited 
market  is  shown  in  the  following  table  of  the  lowest  and 
highest  prices  in  the  most  important  corn  markets  of  the 
Continent,  and  is  also  abstracted  from  a  parliamentary  re- 
turn, (No.  177,  Sess.  1840 :)  in  1831  we  were  large  pur- 
chasers,  and  in  1835  we  did  not  require  a  foreign  supply. 


England. 

Danzig. 

Hamburg. 

Amsterdam. 

Lowest. 

y 

i 

5 

Lowest. 

$ 

1 

£ 

Lowest. 

a 

n 

Lowest. 

V 

E 

3 

s.     d. 

s.     d. 

s.     d. 

s.     </. 

s.     d. 

s.     d. 

s.      d. 

«.    rf. 

1831 

59     2 

75     1 

40     2 

49     634     9 

52     2  37     8 

46     8 

1835 

36     0 

44    0 

20     1 

24  11  20     9 

22     3;21  10 

26     0 

Rotterdam. 

M^mel. 

Odepsa. 

Lowest. 

!§> 

K 

Lowest. 

-C 
Ml 
» 

Lowest. 

9 

*.     d. 

s.     d. 

s.      d. 

s.     d.  s.     d. 

.S.        (/. 

1831 

48  11 

60     9 

31     4 

49     3  19  10 

33     0 

1835 

26     0 

31     6 

19     426     016     2 

23     0 

In  1838,  after  we  had  for  several  years  nearly  ceased 
resorting  to  the  continental  markets,  we  again  became  ex- 
tensive purchasers.  Before  this  necessity  was  fully  apparent, 
the  price  of  wheat  at  Danzig  was  as  low  as  24s.  Id.  the 
quarter,  but  in  the  course  of  the  year  prices  advanced  to 
61s.  2d.,  being  a  rise  of  154  per  cent.,  occasioned  by  the 
demand  from  England.  At  Amsterdam,  in  the  same  year, 
prices  rose  131  per  cent.,  namely,  from  27s.  2d.  the  quar- 
ter to  63s.  ;  at  Hamburg  prices  advanced  114  per  cent., 
from  27s.  3d.  to  58s.  6d.  the  quarter. 

It  seems  impossible  to  avoid  the  following  conclusions  as 
to  the  effect  of  the  present  regulations  on  the  foreign  corn- 
trade : — 1.  That,  though  nominally  importation  may  take 


THE   CORN   TRADE.  217 

place  at  any  time,  the  manner  in  which  the  scale  of  duties 
is  arranged  acts  as  a  bonus  on  the  withholding  of  foreign 
corn  until  prices  reach  the  highest  rate,  and  the  duty  sinks 
to  the  lowest  point ;  and  wheat,  instead  of  being  sold  at  an 
average  mercantile  profit,  becomes  an  article  of  competition 
and  speculation,  in  order  to  realize  large  profits  by  the  fall 
of  the  duty.  2.  That,  when  the  duty  falls  to  the  lowest 
point,  and  not  until  then,  a  large  supply  of  bonded  corn  is 
suddenly  brought  into  the  market,  and  unsteadiness  and 
violent  fluctuations  of  price  are  the  consequence.  3.  That 
the  radius  of  supply  is  limited  ;  and  competition  being  con- 
fined to  the  nearest  ports,  purchases  are  made  at  extravagant 
rates.  4.  That  the  exchange  of  manufactured  goods  for 
agricultural  produce  is  not  encouraged,  and,  extensive  pay- 
ments being  made  in  gold,  the  currency  is  injuriously  af- 
fected. 5.  That  under  a  fixed  duty  most  of  these  evils 
would  be  either  diminished  or  altogether  avoided  ;  the  whole 
world  would  be  opened  to  purchasers  of  foreign  corn ;  and 
the  present  bonus  on  withholding  supplies  being  withdrawn, 
prices  would  not  reach  an  excessive  height,  and  a  fixed  duty 
of  several  shillings  might,  under  these  circumstances,  be 
collected  with  less  injury  to  the  consumer  than  a  duty  of 
one  shilling  under  the  present  system. 


A  document  was  presented  to  both  houses  of  parliament 
in  the  first  session  of  1841,  containing  communications  from 
our  Consuls  residing  at  St.  Petersburg,  Riga,  Liebau,  Odessa, 
Warsaw,  Stockholm,  Danzig,  Konigsberg,  Stettin,  Memel, 
Elsinore,  Hamburg,  Rotterdam,  Antwerp,  and  Palermo,  re- 
specting the  production  of  corn  and  grain  and  the  trade  in 
these  articles  in  their  respective  districts.  They  are  in  re- 
ply to  queries  addressed  to  each  Consul  in  June,  1840,  by 
direction  of  the  Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs. 

19 


218 


THE   CORN    TRADE. 


1.  "  What  quantity  of  grain,  of  each  kind,  could  be  ex- 
ported to  England,  from  the  country  or  district  in  which  you 
reside,  if  the  trade  in  corn  in  England  were  made  constantly 
open,  at  a  moderate  duty  ?" 

The  following  table  is  a  summary  of  the  answers  receiv- 
ed, but  it  is  necessary  to  remark  that  the  Consuls  at  St. 
Petersburg,  Liebau,  and  Hamburg,  state  the  gross  amount 
that  could  be  exported  to  all  countries,  and  not  the  quantity 
which  might  be  shipped  to  England.  The  mean  quantity 
is  generally  given  throughout  the  table : — 


Wheat. 

Rye.   * 

Barley. 

Oats. 

Qrs. 

Qrs. 

Qrs. 

Qrs. 

St.  Petersburg 

192,500 

122,500 

47,000 

245,000 

Riga  .... 

Quan 

tity            n 

ot             sta 

ted. 

Liebau    .     .     . 

30,000 

170,000 

200,000 

60,000 

Odessa    .     .     . 

150,000 

Quantity 

not 

stated. 

Warsaw       .     . 

300,000 

230,000 

17,400 

17,490 

Stockholm  .     . 

1,000 

2,000 

10,000 

12,000 

Danzig    .     .     . 

315,000 

105,000 

42,000 

10,500 

Konigsberg 

65,000 

100,000 

20,000 

40,000 

Stettin    .     .     . 

250,000 

40,000 

30,000 

20,000 

Memel    .     .     . 

5,964 

45,759 

15,466$ 

20,024$ 

Elsinore       .     . 

175,000 

275,000 

225.000 

Hamburg     .     . 

538,000 

97,000 

195,700 

158,700 

Rotterdam    .     . 

Quan 

tity            n 

ot            sta 

ted. 

Antwerp 

Quan 

tity            n 

ot            sta 

ted. 

Palermo 

200,000 

•• 

Total  .     .     . 

2,222,464 

912,259 

852,566$ 

808,714$ 

We  subjoin  a  few  notes  to  render  the  table  more  intel- 
ligible : — 

STOCKHOLM. — The  whole  of  Sweden  could  export  125,000 
quarters  of  all  sorts  of  grain  in  average  years,  but  the 
crops  vary  in  quantity  and  quality  more  than  in  any  part 
of  Europe,  and  there  are,  on  an  average,  two  abundant, 
three  ordinary,  and  one  deficient  harvest  in  every  six  years. 
The  exports  are  chiefly  to  Norway. 


THE    CORN    TRADE.  219 

ST.  PETERSBURG. — In  the  five  years  ending  1839,  the 
quantities  of  corn  and  grain  exported,  averaged  annsally 
21,000  quarters  of  wheat,  18,000  quarters  of  rye,  260  quar- 
ters of  barley,  and  12,100  quarters  of  oats.  The  Consul 
states,  that  in  years  of  abundance  the  quantity  which  could 
be  exported  would  be  three  times  as  great  as  is  stated  in  the 
table.  There  is  an  extraordinary  (typographical)  blunder 
in  the  statement  of  grain  produced  in  the  government  of 
Tambojf,  which  is  said  in  1835  to  have  amounted  to  thirty- 
eight  million  quarters.  The  population  of  this  province  is 
about  1,600,000,  so  that  each  family  raises  nearly  120  quar- 
ters, or  food  sufficient  for  twenty-four  families,  or  in  the  ag- 
gregate sufficient  for  the  whole  population  of  England  for 
about  two  years  and  a  half!  Probably  about  1,800,000 
quarters  of  grain  may  be  raised  in  the  province,  which  would 
still  leave  some  for  export. 

RIGA. — The  largest  quantities  shipped  from  this  port  since 
1783  have  been  as  follows : — Wheat,  166,000  quarters  in 
1829  ;  barley,  108,700  quarters  in  1818  ;  oats,  316,400 
quarters  in  1827;  rye,  704,800  quarters  in  1807.  The 
supplies  for  Riga  are  principally  from  Courland,  Lithuania, 
and  White  Russia.  The  soil  of  Livonio,  of  which  Riga  is 
the  capital,  is  not  well  adapted  for  the  growth  of  wheat,  and 
rye  is  the  chief  production.  When  the  foreign  demand  is 
very  urgent,  the  distant  provinces  of  Smolensk,  Kaluga,  and 
Orel  send  supplies  to  Riga. 

LIEBATJ. — The  quantities  in  the  table  are  those  which 
could  be  exported  in  a  favorable  year.  The  Consul  states, 
that  "  the  greater  part  of  our  former  supplies  was  shipped 
off  to  Holland  and  the  interior  of  Russia."  The  farmers 
bring  their  produce  to  Liebau  as  well  as  to  Windau  in 
sledges  in  the  winter  season  only,  consequently  exports  can- " 
not  be  made  until  the  opening  of  the  navigation. 

MEMEL. — We  now  come  to  the  ports  of  Prussia.     The 


220  THE   CORN   TRADE. 

quantity  stated  in  the  table  is  the  actual  export  of  1839, 
when  the  demand  was  general  in  many  parts  of  Europe, 
and  shipments  were  made  even  to  Russia. 

KONIGSBERG. — The  returns  include  shipments  from  the 
port  of  Pillau,  as  well  as  from  Kb'nigsberg.  From  1825  to 
1839,  the  exports  of  all  kinds  of  grain  averaged  221,476 
quarters  per  annum,  and  if  the  trade  were  constantly  open, 
the  Consul  is  of  opinion  that  from  250,000  to  260,000  quar- 
ters could  be  shipped,  the  proportion  of  each  kind  being  as 
stated  in  the  table. 

DANZIG. — As  the  demand  from  Great  Britain  had  been 
considerable  during  the  three  preceding  years,  the  shipments 
for  that  period  afford  a  fair  average  of  the  exports  of  Dan- 
zig if  the  trade  were  constantly  open  at  a  moderate  duty ; 
but  from  circumstances  occasioned  by  the  fluctuation  of  the 
duty  in  England,  "  there  is  a  greater  chance  of  less  than  of 
a  larger  quantity  being  shipped."  The  quantities  in  the 
table  are  the  average  of  the  years  1837-8-9. 

WARSAW. — We  introduce  Warsaw  in  this  place,  as  the 
exports  from  Poland  are  shipped  at  Danzig.  The  state- 
ments of  the  Consul,  given  in  the  table,  as  to  the  quantity 
exported,  are  not  accompanied  by  any  remarks. 

STETTIN. — The  crops  in  this  part  of  Prussia  and  in  Silesia 
were  very  favorable  in  quantity  and  quality  when  the  return 
was  made,  and  under  these  circumstances  the  export  would 
be  as  stated  in  the  table,  that  is,  under  the  prospect  of  a  low 
duty. 

ELSINORE. — Taking  an  annual  average  of  the  twenty  years 
from  1820  to  1839  inclusive,  the  exports  of  Denmark  and 
Sleswick-Holstein  were — wheat,  106,736  quarters ;  rye, 
135,851  quarters ;  barley,  302,752  quarters ;  and  oats, 
172,170  quarters.  There  is  a  permanent  demand  for  bar- 
ley from  Norway,  and  this  grain  is  particularly  adapted  to 
the  soil  and  climate  of  Denmark  and  the  Duchy.  The 


THE    CORN    TRADE.  221 

quantities  in  the  table  are  such  as  might  be  expected  to  be 
exported  to  England  in  the  event  of  the  trade  being  constant- 
ly open  at  a  moderate  duty. 

HAMBURG. — The  return  from  this  Consulate  includes  Lii- 
beck,  Bremen,  Rostock,  Wismar,  Kiel,  and  Oldenburg.  The 
quantities  are  taken  on  the  average  of  years  in  which  the 
largest  export  has  taken  place  under  the  most  favorable 
circumstances.  In  1839,  496,000  quarters  of  grain  of  all 
kinds  were  shipped  at  Hamburg,  being  the  largest  quantity 
ever  exported.  From  1820  to  1839  about  240,000  quar- 
ters were  exported  annually.  In  1821  only  85,000  quarters 
were  exported,  and  in  1835  about  100,000  quarters. 

ROTTERDAM  AND  ANTWERP. — The  reasons  why  the  Con- 
suls at  these  places  were  unable  to  render  their  returns 
complete  by  filling  up  the  parts  left  vacant  in  the  table  will 
be  stated  in-  noticing  the  fifth  queiy. 

ODESSA. — The  annual  exportation  of  wheat  from  Odessa, 
from  1830  to  1839  inclusive,  averaged  581,340  quarters. 
From  the  Azoph  the  exportation  averages  about  450,000 
quarters  annually.  Neither  rye,  barley,  nor  oats  have  ever 
been  exported  from  these  quarters.  The  Consul  states,  that 
"  more  than  100,000  quarters  could  not  be  diverted  to  a  new 
source  of  demand  without  materially  disturbing  the  market 
of  Odessa,  and  more  positively  so  if  that  quantity  is  to  be 
subtracted  from  the  supply  of  the  finer  qualities."  The  ex- 
tra supply  from  the  Azoph,  "  where  the  demand  from  old 
customers  is  more  special  and  peremptory  on  account  of 
quality,  would,  on  the  same  conditions,  probably  not  exceed 
50,000  quarters."  These  are  the  quantities  given  in  the 
summary. 

PALERMO. — About   200,000    quarters  could  be  exported 

when  the  harvest  has  proved  abundant.     Sicily,  once  the 

granary  of  Rome,  ceased  to  be  a  corn-exporting  country  in 

1826,  in  consequence  of  the  heavy  land  tax,  which  amounts 

19* 


222 


THE    COIIN    TRADE. 


to  25  per  cent,  on  the  rental.  The  wheat  chiefly  cultivated 
is  of  the  hard  kind,  and  could  not  be  ground  by  English 
millstones.  The  soft  wheat  is  liable  to  spoil  if  kept  more 
than  a  twelvemonth  in  granary. 

2.  "  Average  prices  per  imperial  quarter  free  on  board  ;" 
and  3.  "  Probable  freight  per  quarter  to  England."  The 
following  table  gives  a  summary  of  the  answers  received  to 
these  two  queries  : — • 

Average  prices  per  quarter  free  on  "board  ;  and  probable  freight  per 
quarter  to  England. 




Wheat. 

Rye. 

Barley. 

Oats. 

Freight 
per  Uuar. 

St.  Petersburg 

Rjcra      

s.  d.     s.  d. 
39  1 
49  7 
43  7 
26  6 
36  0 
30  Oto35  0 
40  0 
40  0  —  45  0 
40  0 
35  0 
30  0  —  36  0 
35  0  —  46  0 
55  0 
56  5 
38  0 

s.  d.    s.  d. 
19  4 
26  4 
25  9 

22  Oto24  0 
20  0 
18  0  —  20  0 
22  0 
•Z~  0 
22  0  —  25  0 
23  0  —  30  0 

32  1 

•>•.   d.     s.  d. 
17  11 
21  10 
18  7 

15  0  to*18  0 
18  0 
14  0—18  0 
20  0 
15  0 
16  0—  24  0 
20  0—25  0 

28  9*' 

s.  d.     s.  d- 
12  5 
18  0 
11  4 

n  o  to  12  o 

12  0 
10  0  —  14  0 
14  0 

10  0—12  0 
12  0—i:>  0 
11  0—16  0 
15  0  —  22  0 
22  1 

s.  d.      s.  d. 
4  5  to  5  0 
4  9 
46  —  50 
10  0 

36  —  60 
36  —  40 
40  —  60 
40  —  50 
40  —  50 
3  f)  —  5  0 
2  6  —  5  0 
20  —  26 
20  —  26 
8  3 

Licbau   ..  . 
Odessa    .  .   . 
Warsaw 
Stockholm 
Danzig    .  . 
Konigsberg 
Stettin.... 

Memel     .  . 
Elsinore  .. 
Hamburg 
Rotterdam 
Antwerp 
Palermo  .  . 

A  verage  

40.9.  6rf. 

24s.  OJd. 

19*.    Mil. 

14.9.  IJrf. 

4.*.    9:V. 

STOCKHOLM. — There  is  no  duty  on  exportation. 

ST.  PETERSBURG. — Under  ordinary  circumstances  the  pri- 
ces would  be  for  hard  wheat  395.  Id.  per  quarter,  and  for 
soft  335.  6d.  The  prices  for  other  grain  in  average  years 
would  be  those  inserted  in  the  table.  The  prices  of  differ- 
ent sorts  of  grain  in  1835  in  the  government  of  Tamboff 
were — wheat,  13s.  6d.  to  14s.  Id. ;  rye,  Is.  Id.  to  7s.  7±d. ; 
oats,  4s.  9±d.  to  5s.  5±d.  per  quarter.  The  expenses  to  St. 
Petersburg  were  about  50  per  cent,  on  wheat,  and  above  100 
per  cent,  on  rye  and  oats. 

RIGA. — No  statements  are  given  beyond  those  which  the 
table  supplies,  excepting  that  it  is  said  freights  would  have 


THE   CORN   TRADE.  223 

been  higher  had  there  been  more  corn  for  exportation  to 
England  this  year. 

LIEBAXJ. — The  prices  apply  to  corn  and  grain  of  first-rate 
qualities.  There  would  besides  be  charges  for  lighterage, 
as  vessels  cannot  take  in  their  whole  cargo  in  the  harbors 
of  Liebau  and  Windau.  These  amount  to  3±d.  or  4d.  per 
quarter,  and  there  is  also  to  be  added  the  cost  of  warehouse 
rent,  mats  for  dunnage,  fire  insurance,  sound  dues,  and  ma- 
rine insurance.  The  freight  of  oats  to  England  is  from  3s. 
Qd.  to  4s.  per  quarter. 

MEMEL. — The  freights  are  chiefly  regulated  by  timber 
freights. 

KONIGSBERG. — The  freights  to  the  east  coast  of  England  are 
from  4s.  to  5s.  the  quarter  for  wheat,  and  to  the  west  coast 
from  5s.  to  6s. 

DANZIG. — The  treaty  of  Vienna  stipulates  that  the  duties 
levied  by  the  governments  of  Austria,  Russia,  and  Prussia 
conjointly,  on  the  produce  of  the  soil  of  the  ancient  Polish 
provinces,  shall  not  exceed  10  per  cent,  on  the  prime  cost, 
so  that  a  heavy  export  duty  could  not  be  charged  without  the 
infraction  of  this  treaty.  The  transit  dues  are  included  in 
the  prices  in  the  table. 

WARSAW. — The  remunerating  price  of  wheat  at  War- 
saw is  24s.  per  quarter.  The  expenses  of  water  carriage 
from  thence  to  Danzig  may  be  taken  at  12s.  the  quarter. 

STETTIN. — The  expenses  of  screening,  loading,  and  com- 
mission are  included  in  the  prices  free  on  board. 

ELSINORE. — The  freight  of  wheat  from  Danish  ports  varies 
from  3s.  to  3s.  6d.  per  quarter  in  summer,  and  from  4s.  6d. 
to  5s.  in  winter.  To  the  western  coasts  of  England  it  is 
usually  from  3d.  to  6d.  higher.  The  exportation  is  duty 
free,  but  the  expenses  of  insurance  and  commission  are  to 
be  added  to  the  prices  in  the  table. 

HAMBURG. — "  It  is  not  to  be  expected,"  says  the  Consul, 


224  THE    CORN    TRADE. 

"  that  prices  would  be  lower  than  the  average,  unless  an 
over-abundant  production  in  Great  Britain  should  cause  a 
cessation  in  the  demand  from  that  quarter ;  and  on  the  other 
hand,  they  would  be  higher  if  the  demand  became  greater." 
He  states  that  in  extraordinary  cases  the  freight  to  England 
might  be  from  8s.  to  10s.  per  quarter  ;  but  the  usual  freights 
are  those  given  in  the  table  :  there  is  no  export  duty. 

ROTTERDAM. — Add  10  per  cent,  primage  to  the  freights : 
the  rates  of  insurance  vary  from  three-quarters  to  one  and 
a  half  per  cent.,  according  to  the  season. 

ANTWERP. — The  freights  in  the  table  are  to  London  and 
Hull  ;  to  Liverpool  the  freight  is  3s.  to  3s.  6d.  The  freight 
for  barley  is  20  per  cent.,  and  for  oats  30  per  cent,  less  than 
for  wheat. 

ODESSA. — The  average  price  of  wheat  of  fine  quality, 
free  on  board,  was  26s.  6d.  per  quarter  from  1830  to  1839. 
"  At  present  (September,  1840)  the  price  of  good  wheat  on 
board  is  325.  6d.,  though  without  a  visible  demand  from 
abroad."  Freights  vary  excessively,  having  fluctuated  from 
6s.  2d.  to  21s.  6d.  per  quarter  in  the  two  preceding  years. 
A  good  freight  is  supposed  to  be  10*.  per  quarter. 

PALERMO. — In  abundant  harvests  the  price  of  wheat  is 
32s.,  and  an  average  harvest  38s.  per  quarter. 

The  fourth  query  was  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining 
what  "other"  charges  would  be  incurred  besides  freight ;  if, 
for  example,  export  duties  were  imposed.  Where  any  such 
additional  charges  are  made,  the  fact  has  been  mentioned  in 
the  above  notes. 

5.  "  Whether,  if  there  were  a  regular  and  steady  demand 
in  England  for  foreign  corn,  the  quantity  of  corn  produced 
in  the  said  country  or  district  would,  without  much  difficulty 
and  in  a  short  space  of  time,  be  materially  increased  ?" 

STOCKHOLM. — Foreign  capital  would  be  requisite  to  ensure 
an  increased  production. 


THE    CORN    TRADE.  225 

ST.  PETERSBURG. — "  There  are  extensive  tracts  of  land  in 
the  provinces  that  now  supply  St.  Petersburg,  which  would, 
no  doubt,  be  brought  into  cultivation,  were  a  steady  and  cer- 
tain market  for  corn  opened  at  this  place." 

RIGA. — Rye  is  cultivated  in  preference  to  wheat,  as  it  is 
the  bread-corn  of  the  country,  is  used  in  the  distilleries,  and 
shipped  extensively  to  Holland.  The  principal  corn  districts 
are  too  remote  from  the  ports  to  enable  the  farmers  to  get 
their  crops  to  market  sufficiently  early  for  exportation  in  the 
same  year,  and  therefore  they  cannot  profit  so  decidedly  by 
the  occurrence  of  a  bad  harvest  in  England  as  those  in  the 
neighborhood  of  some  other  of  the  Baltic  ports.  The  rapid  in- 
crease of  manufactures  has  withdrawn  many  hands  from  the 
cultivation  of  the  soil  in  this  part  of  Russia.  The  cultivation 
of  beet- root  for  the  sugar  refineries,  and  the  constant  demand 
for  flax,  which  always  obtains  remunerating  prices  in  the  Ri- 
ga market,  also  tend  to  counteract  any  great  increase  in  the 
production  of  corn. 

LIEBAU. — The  query  is  answered  in  the  negative. 

MEMEL. — "  In  four  or  five  years  about  a  fourth  more  grain 
would  be  cultivated.  This  depends  however  entirely  upon 
how  high  the  fixed  duty  is.  Ten  shillings  per  quarter  for 
wheat  would  be  worse  for  the  landholders  here  than  the 

present  system  :  for  instance — 

s. 

Prime  cost 35  per  quarter. 

Freight,  insurance,  landing  charges,  &c.  10  " 

Duty 10  « 

Total      ....        55 

whereby  many  years  would  come  wherein  the  merchants 
here  could  not  export  at  all." 

KONIGSBERG. — The  farmers  find  it  more  profitable  to  de- 
vote their  attention  to  the  breeding  of  sheep,  horses,  and  cat- 
tle, which,  particularly  wool,  answer  better  than  growing  corn. 


226  THE    CORN    TRADE. 

DANZIG  . — The  chief  quantity  of  grain  shipped  here  is  the 
produce  of  Poland ;  but  the  districts  of  Prussia  adjoining 
Danzig  are  in  such  a  state  of  advanced  cultivation,  that  "  a 
larger  supply  for  shipment  could  not  be  expected  (at  least 
not  to  any  extent)  than  the  last  three  years  have  supplied." 

WARSAW.—"  The  quantity  of  wheat  grown  in  Poland 
has  considerably  increased  in  the  last  six  years,  and  the  pro- 
duction might  no  doubt  be  further  gradually  increased  if 
there  were  a  steady  demand  for  foreign  corn  in  England  ; 
but  the  deficiency  of  manure,  the  scarcity  of  hands,  and  the 
want  of  skill  in  the  cultivation  of  the  land,  would  operate 
against  any  large  immediate  increase."  The  Consul  at  Stet- 
tin reports  that  "  the  production  of  all  kinds  of  grain  has 
these  two  or  three  years  been  extended  to  a  considerable  de- 
gree ;  it  is  therefore  not  expected  the  landowners  can  much 
augment  the  same,  the  cultivating  of  additional  soil  not  be- 
ing in  their  system  of  agriculture,  particularly  as  the  pro- 
duction of  oil-seed,  of  potatoes  for  spirit,  and  pasture  and 
food  for  sheep  and  cattle,  has  been  too  advantageous  for  them 
to  curtail  the  same  to  any  considerable  degree." 

ELSINORE. — In  case  of  a  regular  and  steady  demand  in 
England  for  foreign  corn,  the  quantity  produced  in  Denmark 
and  Sleswick-Holstein  "  would,  without  difficulty,  and  in  a 
short  space  of  time,  be  materially  increased,  as  has  already 
been  the  case  of  late  years,  in  consequence  of  the  improve- 
ments made  in  husbandry,  and  of  large  tracts  of  waste  lands 
having  been  brought  under  cultivation  by  an  increasing  pop- 
ulation, chiefly  agricultural."  The  quantities  likely  to  be 
produced  under  this  encouragement  are  stated  in  the  table 
under  the  first  query. 

HAMBURG. — The  answer  to  the  query  respecting  the  like- 
lihood of  an  increased  quantity  of  grain  being  produced  is 
"  Probably  not."  Mr.  Consul-General  Canning  gives  the 
following  reasons  for  this  opinion : — "  because  as  much  land 


THE   CORN   TRADE.  227 

is  already  appropriated  in  this  district  to  the  growth  of  corn 
as  the  system  of  husbandry  established  in  these  duchies  will 
admit  of.  Wool,  butter,  and  potatoes  for  distillation  having 
for  many  years  been  profitable  produce  to  the  farmer,  he 
will  not  easily  be  induced  to  give  up  the  cultivation  of  the 
latter,  or  to  sell  offhis  sheep  and  cattle,  which,  moreover,  af- 
ford manure  positively  necessary  for  the  cultivation  of  grain. 
But  although  the  quantity  of  grain  may  not  be  increased  in 
a  short  space  of  time,  the  kind  of  corn  may  be  changed,  and 
more  wheat,  but  less  of  other  grain,  under  such  a  change 
of  circumstances,  may'  be  grown  than  at  present.  Still, 
however,  this  will  occur  only  to  a  limited  extent,  and  at 
times  when  high  prices  in  other  countries  may  encourage 
the  export  of  wheat,  for  the  habits  of  the  people  in  this  dis- 
trict causing  a  demand  for  rye  for  home  use,  the  demand  for 
it  in  other  countries,  and  the  nature  of  the  soil  being  gener- 
ally fitter  for  the  cultivation  of  rye,  will  always  have  a  ten- 
dency to  prevent  any  great  extension  of  the  growth  of  wheat 
in  these  countries." 

ROTTERDAM. — Large  quantities  of  the  produce  of  northern 
Europe  and  the  countries  on  the  Rhine  are  warehoused  in 
Holland  and  re-exported  to  other  parts.  Confining  the  ques- 
tion to  Holland,  the  Consul  states  that  more  wheat  is  grown 
in  that  country  than  is  required  for  its  consumption,  but  it 
"is  not  of  a  quality  adapted  to  the  English  market."  The 
effect  of  opening  the  corn  trade  in  England  would  not 
"  materially"  increase  the  production  of  wheat  in  Holland. 
Rye  grown  in  Holland  is  seldom  or  never  exported  ;  and  the 
barley  is  "quite  unsuitable"  to  the  English  market.  Dutch 
oats  are  much  esteemed  in  England,  but  the  quantity  grown 
(about  800.000  quarters)  is  not  at  present  more  than  adequate 
to  the  home  demand.  Still,  if  the  demand  from  England 
were  regular  and  constant  at  remunerating  prices,  "  it  may 
safely  be  assumed  that  an  increased  cultivation  (of  oats) 


228  THE   CORN   TRADE. 

would  speedily  ensue."  It  is  added  that  "  beans  and  peas 
are  both  likely  to  be  grown  in  greater  quantity,"  but  to  what 
extent  it  is  impossible  to  state. 

ANTWERP. — Belgium  produces  neither  corn  nor  grain  for 
export ;  and  the  Consul  states  that  it  is  not  probable,  "  under 
any  circumstances,"  that  the  production  could  be  influenced 
by  the  demand  for  England.  Writing  in  August,  1841,  he 
says  : — "  The  exportation  of  wheat  and  rye  is  at  present 
prohibited,  and  with  an  augmented  population,  the  quantity 
of  land  cultivated  for  flax,  beet-root,  and  chicory,  which  is 
increasing  throughout  Brabant,  Limburg,  and  Liege,  has  so 
diminished  the  growth  of  corn,  that  there  is  a  deficiency  of 
produce." 

ODESSA. — The  quantity  which  could  be  spared  for  England 
from  the  districts  adjacent  to  Odessa  and  the  countries  border- 
ing the  sea  of  Azoph  is  at  present  not  more  than  150,000 
quarters  of  wheat,  as  already  stated.  In  reply  to  the  present 
query,  the  Consul  states  that  "  there  would  be  no  material 
increase,  and  certainly  not  in  a  short  space  of  time."  The 
grounds  for  this  opinion  are  very  succinctly  detailed,  and 
several  of  them  apply  to  a  large  portion  of  northern,  cen- 
tral, and  eastern  Europe,  as  well  as  the  countries  bordering 
on  the  Black  Sea.  They  are  as  follows  : — "  1.  Because  in 
Podolia  and  Kievy,  whence  Odessa  derives  its  principal 
supplies,  the  greatest  quantity  possible  of  grain  is  at  all  times 
produced  without  regard  to  price  and  demand,  in  consequence 
of  capital  being  vested  in  slave-labor,  which  is  not  otherwise 
to  be  employed.  2.  Because  the  plains,  called  steppes,  ad- 
jacent to  the  Black  Sea  and  Azoph,  are  thinly  peopled,  so 
that  in  years  when  crops  are  abundant  they  remain  neglect- 
ed  on  the  ground  for  want  of  reapers.  3.  Because  on  these 
steppes  crops  are  exceedingly  precarious,  by  reason  of 
drought,  the  common  calamity  of  this  climate;  of  the  high 
winds,  which  carry  off"  the  seed  from  the  dusty  soil ;  of  the 


THE    CORN    TRADE.  229 

early  thaws  and  subsequent  frosts  without  snow.  4.  Because 
tillage  is  defective,  and  improvement  difficult  under  the 
present  circumstances  of  the  country.  5.  Because  distances 
are  great  and  communications  unaided  by  art,  there  being 
no  roads,  and  the  rivers  being  unnavigable.  6.  Because  the 
landlords  are  impoverished,  and  most  of  them  indebted  to 
the  crown,  and  the  working  classes  are  degraded  by  their 
condition  of  slavery.  7.  Because  no  progressive  improve- 
ments are  to  be  expected  in  Russia  until  great  organic 
changes  are  brought  about,  or  so  long  as  the  real  interests 
are  sacrificed  to  an  anti-commercial  policy.  Very  high  prices 
may  indeed  cause  at  times  a  greater  exportation,  not  by  in- 
crease of  production,  but  by  extending  the  circle  of  supply." 
PALERMO. — If  the  farmer  could  continually  obtain  35s. 
per  quarter  free  on  board,  the  production  of  hard  wheat 
could  be  increased  in  three  or  four  years. 

20 


230 


THE    CORN    TRADE. 


APPENDIX. 
THE  SLIDING  SCALE. 


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W 


THE    CORX    TRADE. 


231 


ON  WHEAT  AED  FLOUR  IMPORTED  IX  ENGLAND  FROM  CANADA 

Whenever  wheat  per  quarter 

!  11'  hencvrr  flour  per  barrel 

is  worth. 

is  icort/i 

The  duty  is 

The  duty  i? 

s.        $    c.   >-   s.        S    c  .\.-i.     $  c. 

''•#.  d.         $  c.    *"    .«.   rl.         $  r. 

.*.  d.          c. 

•3    55or  1320:5  or  1  20 

"=    !!4  4',  or  8  25 

:i     I.',  or  75 

55  or  13  20   §    56orl344J4or      SIR 

'34  4i  or  8  25   =    35     "  or  8  40 

2    6"  or  60 

56  or  13  44  -c   57  or  J3  68  3  or     72 

35    "or  8  41^   357.!  or  8  55 

1    10'..  or  45 

57  or  13  68  g   58  or  13  92  2  or     <8 

'357i.  or  8  55  5   363"  or  8  70 

1     3"  or  31! 

58  or  13  92  and  over            1  or     24 

36  3    or  8  70  and  over 

7!  or  lf> 

In  these  tables  the  pound  sterling  is  computed  at 
the  legal  value. 


80,  which  is 


CORN  LAWS  OF  GREAT 
BRITAIN. 

Wheat  —  If  imported  from 
any    foreign    country  ; 
Whenever  the    average 
price  of  wheat,  made  up 
and  published  in  a  man- 
ner   required    by    law, 
shall  be  for  every  quar- 
ter :— 
per 
Under                         quar. 

8.                                             £     S. 

51  the  duty  shall  be  1  00 
51  and  under     52s.       19 

BARLEY. 
per 
Under                           quar. 
s.                                      «. 
26  the  duty  shall  be      11 
26  and  under    27s.       19 
27          "            30s.         9 
30        -'•            31s.         8 
31           '             32s.         7 
32           '             33s.         6 
33           '             34s.         5 
34          <             35s.        4 
35          '             36s.         3 
36          '             37s.        2 
37  and  upwards                1 

52                        55s.       18 
55                        56s.       17 
56                        57s.       16 
57                        58s.       15 
58                        59s.       14 
59                        60s.       13 

The  duty  on  MAIZE,  or 
INDIAN  CORN,  BUCKWHEAT 
and  BEAR  or  BIGG,  shall  be 
for  every  quarter,  a  duty 
equal  to  the  duty  payable 
on  a  quarter  of  Barley. 

60                        61s.       12 
61                        62s.       11 
62                       63s.      10 
63                        64s.         9 
64                        65s.         8 
65                        66s.         7 
66                       69s.        6 
69                        70s.         5 
70                        71s.        4 
71                        72s.         3 
72                       73s.        2 
73  and  upward                1 

WHEAT. 
If  imported  from  Canada 
or  other  British  posses- 
sions :  — 
per 
Under                           quar. 
s.                                       s. 
55  the  duty  shall  be        5 
55  and  under      56s.         4 
56  and  under      57s.         3 
57           "            58s.        2 
58  and  upwards                1 

UCSB  LIBRARY 

X'  36\  ST- 


